40 Year Old Purge

Over the last twenty years I have witnessed dozens of women reach the end of their ropes and file for divorce around or just after turning 40. As I watched it happen to my mother's friends when I was a teenager she warned me that something happens to a woman when she turns forty. She didn't know if it was a shift in hormones or what, but for whatever reason, a lot of women reach the point where they leave their long term relationships at that time. She cautioned me to be on the ready, should I have some of those feelings when I reached that age.

Where I come from it was not uncommon for most women to be married by their early 20's up until the early 2000's. I supposed that it did stand to reason that if you hit the 20 year mark and things were still toxic, you might at that point decide to jump ship. It made sense. Turning forty is kind of a big deal and a lot of people go through something, want to turn over a new leaf, etc. So, it did make sense that they would choose that milestone to offload a deadbeat or an abuser or an asshole. 40 is the time to purge the toxicity because life is just too short for unnecessary bullshit.

To my surprise, even though I went through those same thoughts and feelings about needing to turn over a new leaf in time to turn forty this year, the toxic man I ditched wasn't my husband. It was God.