MSI Press Blog

  from  Divorced! Survival Techniques for Singles over Forty  (Romer)   DAVID “DOC” ROBERTS                       “The door is always open. Every day is a new venture.”                               One of the kindest people I know is a tall, good-looking man who answers to the name of “Doc” Roberts. Doc has an easy-going way about him that reassures people, but he’s come by his composure through a long road of struggle. A veteran of three divorces, 58-year old Doc now focuses his efforts on helping other people get through life. His first marriage lasted only nine months. “I had just gotten out of the service,” he told me, “and nobody would hire me because of my disabilities [from the service]. I finally got into selling clothing.” Doc said his marriage to Debbie was pretty much based on physical attraction. “We were just too young,” he explained. “She ended up getting the condo and the cats. I lost out, but I got a job with DuPont that lasted seven years. I got the job because of her

  As editor, I will have to tell the author's story of Divorced! Survival Techniques for Singles over Forty -- or at least as much of it as I knew about -- since the author, Joanna Romer passed away a few years ago, in the middle of writing her tenth book. Joanna had written several other books prior to Divorced! Survival Techniques for Singles Over Forty, include the award-winning books, Widow and The Widower's Guide to as New Life! These books were based on her experiences after her husband, Milton, director of Stand by Me , died and prompted by them.  While she had not been divorced, being a widow had some of the same circumstances as being a divorcee, especially some of the same emotions and insecurities -- ones that she share with other women in similar circumstances. She wrote to help shape her own thinking and emotional understanding; she wrote even more so to help other women in the same cirumstances. Joanna's books have always been popular, even after her death. I

  from Divorced! Survival Techniques for Singles over Forty (Romer) The Break-U p   “I want a divorce.” If you cringe when you read these words, chances are you’ve heard them yourself. Or maybe you’ve uttered them—initiating a divorce is almost as bad as being the victim of one. Well, not quite. Having been in both situations, I can attest that it is far more painful to be the one who is left. Feeling lost, betrayed or abandoned is a typical reaction for the marriage partner who has been told that he or she is no longer necessary for whatever reason.  We cry, we sulk, we wonder what we did wrong. Often there is confusion and unanswered questions—is he really leaving today ? Is there another woman (or man), or isn’t there? That person whom we thought we knew, the one who is now in the process of walking out the door, isn’t telling us everything because—well, the truth hurts. At this difficult juncture, our soon-to-be ex-spouse may be trying to spare our feelings by leaving a smidgeon of