Our 33-year-long marriage ended over Zoom.
Not in a courtroom. Not with slammed doors, raised voices or a dramatic final goodbye. Because we were still living in the aftermath of Covid-19, our divorce hearing happened quietly through a computer screen ... as casually as any routine virtual meeting.
I wrestled with what to wear that day. Should it be businesslike or casual? In the end, I was glad I chose something simple, because the moment itself was far less formal than I expected. It was just me and my soon-to-be ex-husband, the judge and our legal representation. The whole thing took no more than 10 minutes.
At one point, the judge even paused and asked if we were absolutely sure this was what we wanted. I think our kindness toward one another – and the fact that we both had smiles on our faces and even chuckled several times – caught him off guard.
In his defense, he was probably accustomed to presiding over divorce cases filled with tension, bitterness or silence so sharp it can cut through air. But my former husband and I simply smiled and answered the same way: “Yes.” And just like that, our three-plus decades of being married was done.
I exp...
English (US)