On Monday, reality TV star Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from her husband, Kris Humphries, citing irreconcilable differences after just 72 days of marriage. The pair wed Aug. 20 amid a media circus that netted them tens of millions of dollars. Their “fairytale wedding” became E!’s third highest-rated show ever. But the couple won’t be living happily ever after. At least not together.
Kardashian said in a statement, “After careful consideration, I have decided to end my marriage. I hope everyone understands this was not an easy decision. I had hoped this marriage was forever, but sometimes things don’t work out as planned.”
Careful consideration? Not an easy decision? I don’t pretend to know what Kardashian experienced during those first 72 days, but if your flowers outlive your marriage, can you honestly say you gave it a fighting chance? She says it didn’t “work out as planned.” What plan for a lifelong relationship expires after two-and-a-half months?
Last week on our audio podcast, we reviewed the new Tim Allen sitcom Last Man Standing. On that show, one of the teenage daughters is depicted as a superficial, pop culture-obsessed drama queen—and a huge Kim Kardashian fan. The character’s shallowness is usually underscored by a laugh track. But it’s hard to laugh when you realize that she has plenty of real-life counterparts who consider Kardashian a role model. Are these adolescents now a little more likely to view a husband as an accessory, a flesh-and-blood handbag to wear on one’s arm until he feels cumbersome or falls out of style?
The Kardashian divorce is tragic for several reasons. First for the parties involved, but also because marriage is a symbol of God’s covenant with His church. The joining together that happens in marriage isn’t just a showy celebration with Vera Wang dresses, 20-carat diamond rings and nuptials shared in front of family, friends and millions of TV viewers. It’s an illustration of how Christ and the church are one. Forever. It’s about submission, cooperation, forgiveness and sacrifice—working through rough patches and coming out stronger because of it.
The Yeagers understood that.
From the day they married in 1939, Gordon and Norma Yeager were inseparable, even though some friends and family in State Center, Iowa, considered them total opposites. He was a people person, happy to be the center of attention. She was quieter, the supportive perfectionist. They liked to socialize, enjoyed the outdoors and raised four children together. But a few weeks ago, just days after the Kardashian wedding aired with all its pomp and circumstance, this humble couple of 72 years held hands for the last time.
The Yeagers set out for an early-morning drive, only to suffer a violent wreck at a familiar intersection. Gordon (94) and Norma (90) were rushed to the hospital and reunited in the intensive care unit. Neither was fully alert. Then, with their hands clasped, Gordon died at 3:38 p.m.
“It was really strange,” their son told MSNBC. “Dad stopped breathing, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on because the heart monitor was still going. The nurse checked and said that’s because they were holding hands and it’s going through them. Her heart was beating through him and [his monitor was] picking it up.”
Just over an hour later, Norma was gone, too. Those close to the couple found it fitting, since neither spouse was ever able to envision life without the other. The passing of Gordon and Norma Yeager marked the final chapter in a marital masterwork, an amazing saga of romance, devotion and perseverance. Their legacy is an epic adventure packed with 72 years of shared ups and downs, all set in motion by the promise “til death do us part”.
Do things always work out as planned when we say “I do”? No. But given a chance to work out at all, they could surpass our wildest dreams.
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