Marriages that endure to the end of life have long been celebrated, from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Noah and Allie in The Notebook. For some couples, however, the story plays out very differently.
Since the 1980s, the proportion of separations among Aussie couples who’ve been married for 20 years and longer has been increasing – a phenomenon known as “grey divorce”. And for the women leaving those relationships, facing the second half of their lives without the person they’d assumed they’d see out their sunset years with can be both liberating and confronting.
Melbourne woman Fran Roberts, 67, whose 30-year marriage ended in 2015, is emphatic that she will never remarry. She spends her days indulging her passions for art, music, travel, books, podcasts, good food and wine. Whether it’s attending an organ recital, lunching with her adult children or hitting the pavement with her weekly walking group, Fran relishes having agency over her time, and is intent on making the most of that.
“Who knows how long you’ve got?” she points out. Prioritising her own needs might have invoked guilt when she was a mum of two young children, but now that her kids are grown-ups, that’s no longer the
