As 2011 winds down, we're taking a look back at the relationship-related news, trends and research that emerged over the course of the year. (Tech-enhanced flirting! A royal wedding! Elderly roommates!) Should old acquaintance be forgot, at least you'll remember these fun facts!
In the year since I launched breakup recovery website Pink Kisses, I've heard all kinds of stories about women getting over heartbreak with moxie, courage and just plain determination. My team and I have come to recognize significant breakups as turning points and chances for redefinition that are rarely simple or easy. We've noticed some things that just seem to be universally true about getting over a broken heart, whether it's moving on after a two-month relationship or a 17-year marriage. We're constantly mesmerized by people's stories.
Infidelity, jealousy, separation...they aren't just human problems. Members of the animal kingdom also face such relationship afflictions. Consider, for example, Harry and Pepper. Since 2003, the two male Magellan penguins have been a happily paired gay couple well-known to visitors of the San Francisco Zoo. In addition to nesting together, Harry and Pepper became parents when they incubated an egg laid by another penguin in 2008. But things turned sour earlier this year when Linda, a recently widowed female penguin, befriended Harry.
Dr. Gail Saltz, relationship columnist for the Today Show, recently received a letter from a woman who is on the path to marriage and wants her husband-to-be to sign a prenuptial agreement. A lot of what she says is excellent — reassuring, clear and logical. But we can't help but wonder: Are reassurance and logic enough to persuade someone to sign a prenup who normally wouldn't even consider the idea? We're not entirely sure. Below are some of Saltz's key points on talking about prenups and our thoughts on them.
Many black women are quick to point out that there are no good single black men out here. It turns out, they might actually be right, which also may explain why more black women remain unmarried than white women. Forty-two-percent of black women have never been married, compared to 21% of white woman, according to national statistics. That’s double, chicks!
