Last week I received a call from an old friend who has decided to get a divorce. She's been married to her husband for 24 years. I've known them both for over 25 years. Although I'm a divorce "professional", the news about their marriage hurt in a way that surprised me. I can hear my 22 year old daughter saying "mom, doesn't anybody stay married?" when I tell her the news. My children were close to this family, as we visited them in Georgia during our "home leaves" from Singapore. We'd swim in their pool, our kids took the 4 wheelers around their property, and ran around the dense woods together for hours while I visited with the two of them, cooking out, talking about mutual friends and days gone by. I thought Marla and Kyle would be together forever - really. Like PB & J or something. They were the glue that held together an entire network of families, one of which was mine. We all convened at their house on the 4th of July every year, and any other time we could make the trip to visit their home. Was I naive to hope and wish that my friends would remain together, regardless of the changes that were happening all around them? If so, I believe I'm in good company. We all want to believe that lifelong marriage is possible. And I still believe it is. But it isn't common, and that's something we all tend to overlook or just plain forget about. Lifelong marriage takes a lot - of hard work, conscientiousness, self discipline, empathy, compassion, and some good fortune. See, Marla and Steve have recently been the recipients of some extreme misfortune. They tried to hang in there, but it just wasn't possible any longer. They really did have it all, and they gave it all they could for a very long time. As tragic as this is, it would be more painful for my friends if I refused to understand, or put my own grief ahead of their suffering right now. Let's face it, this isn't about me, although I am certainly experiencing some "collateral damage" right now. I hope to be a source of support for Marla and Kyle as they go through this excruciatingly painful time. My thoughts, good wishes, and prayers are with them.