European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 21, 1973, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Wednesday november 21, 1973 the stars and stripes Page 19 r 9 i modern living late divorces rna Shou by Jurate k az1ck asap staff writer a growing number of Silver wed Ding anniversaries Are being observed with divorce decrees instead of Cham pagne toasts. Couples married for As Long As 25 years who in the past might have stayed together to the end no matter How difficult or Dull the marriage Are now Likely to con Sider starting life Over again single. The National divorce rate is steadily Ris ing with one out of three marriages ending in the courts. And late first time divorces.  "  one out of three marriages ends in divorce court. Is Many families Are child entered. Once the children Are grown there is often a void in the marriage. Are increasing As significantly As those inthe first five years of marriage. More than 25 per cent of All divorces filed today involve marriages of More than 15 years compared to 4 per cent 30 years ago according to the census Bureau. About 16 per cent of those involve couples who have Bee married 25 years or More. In the past the marriages lasted As Long As they did for a variety of reasons the children Money problems Public opinion fear of a lonely old age. People Hope for miracles divorce Counselor say to make a bad marriage better. Many refuse to face the fact they May have made a mis take. In a three year study of 40 couples who were married 18 to 42 years before the divorce or. Alfred a. Messer director of the family Institute in Atlanta found that three fourths of the couples divorced when the last child left Home. These were child entered families where being a Parent was More important and worked at harder than being a spouse Messer said. With the children gone there was a void in the  the women s liberation movement played a part. There Are growing numbers of women who Are no longer socially and economically dependent on the male Aren t afraid to say my husband is a bore and feel perfectly free to move onto another relationship says Messer. Feminist and sociologist or. Jessie Ber Nard agrees. With their children grown As they move into the labor Force and have More options available to them More and More women Are saying what s the Point of hanging on to a bad marriage so Many women used to be frightened by divorce dreariness says or. Bernard. But now they see their friends leaving Home and surviving. Women Are not aging the Way they used to and Are finding out that living alone and being free can be  but being free also can cause problems. A divorce coming at the age of the menopause can result in extra emotional and physiological upsets. Divorce also May mean a Lack of companionship that marriage no matter How bad provided. Or. Esther Fisher a marriage and divorce Counselor with the american foun Dation of religion and psychiatry cautions that some women might have feelings of rejection and depression after the divorce. Women Aren t All that Marriageable at that age and finding a new Man might be difficult. If the woman in working she might feel a certain futility and of course Lack of Money can be a problem. Sexual attitudes have change considerably too and some women May have trouble adjusting to the new  marriage Counselor say that the majority of divorces Are still Proba Bly initiated by the Man although there Are some women who make the break first. Flory Barnett is a vivacious witty woman who appears to be thoroughly enjoying her Freedom. She says now her 23 year marriage was just about 20 years too Long. It lasted As Long As it did because i worked at it. From the moment we decide to split i came to life. I d never realized How unhappy i d been All those  was a War Bride who married right after College and soon was involved with her three children and the suburban social scene. Her husband was Busy with his work and making Money. And one Day there was nothing to hold them together any More. Older divorced women admit that the decision to end the marriage is considerably simplified if they re already working. A Job Means economic Independence and a built in social situation to meet new people. Flory who had never held a Job received a generous Alimony settlement. But she knew she would get restless and de pressed moping around the House since her children were married or away at  got a Job in a local gift shop made contacts and eventually found challenging and lucrative work with a civic Organiza continued of Page 20j