End of the Road

Usually, news of celebrity divorces doesn't register much of a blip on my radar.  It's become commonplace, to be perfectly honest, however this latest news of a split seemingly came out of nowhere.  Singer,  Jewel and her championship cowboy, Ty Murray are calling it quits.

According to a post on the singer's website, the couple has been quietly trying to find reconciliation, but have decided to go ahead with a divorce.  It's really quite interesting reading.  There are some undertones that are reminiscent of Gwyneth Paltrow's referencing of an "uncoupling" with her marriage to Coldplay lead singer, Chris Martin.  I found the term to be a bit ridiculous.  The way that Jewel wrote about her and Ty coming to the conclusion is in that similar vein, but not as cheesy to me for some reason; probably because she actually wrote more to explain why things are going down the way they are.

Either way, divorce sucks--particularly when there are children involved.  (Jewel and Ty have a little boy, Kase.)  I often wondered how hard it is to hold a family together when both parents have careers that thrust them into the spotlight and eat so much of their time.  It can't be easy.  You almost always have to be "on," because there are fans who expect you to be that bubbly person all of the time, and you really don't have much for privacy to work "normal" challenges out with each other.  It takes a special understanding to work through problems in the public eye.  Not every celebrity couple can climb that mountain and come down the other side intact.

It does make one stop and appreciate the love and understanding that celebrity couples who HAVE successfully weathered the storms of life and kept their ship righted and moving ahead in life.  Couples like Tim McGraw and Faith Hill come to mind.  There have been rumors swirling for years that they were on the outs.  And perhaps they were having challenges, as ANY married couple does, but they are seemingly holding it together.  It makes me have an even greater appreciation for them both.  And it certainly allows each of them to bring real emotion to their craft.  Marriage and family provides plenty of material for music.  Not that we'd want to be hearing any songs about dirty diapers on the airwaves, but without a doubt, relationships--the good, the bad, and the ugly provide a plethora of material for music.