I’ll never forget, sitting in my home office, Bravo on my TV, watching a rerun of The Real Housewives of Somewhere while catching up on some Vanity Fair articles when a trailer for a new show came on. Girlfriends Guide to Divorce – a new scripted show. Immediately this information had my full attention.
The word divorce had not been uttered in my household aloud but it was a thought in my head. It wasn’t something I was thinking about a lot, but I was starting to realize and process how deeply unhappy my marriage was making me. I quickly made note of when this new Bravo series was going to start, knowing I would be curious about the subject if nothing else. The series start was still a couple months away. By the time of the premier, my ex-husband had moved out and my divorce was full speed ahead.
This is the second time where a TV show aligned perfectly with my life. The other time was Sex in the City. It was 1998. I had just moved to Chicago and was living the work hard/play hard life in the advertising agency world. And my roommate Kate and I were most definitely living the Midwest version of SITC to the best of our abilities. And every Sunday evening, we were positioned perfectly on the couch with Kate’s signature bowl of popcorn, a bottle of red wine and her yellow lab-mix, Kallie. The static of the HBO logo was nearly as intoxicating as the wine and we LIVED to voyeuristically experience the weekly escapades of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte.
One of the most devastating events in my life was the fact that when I got married, we immediately moved to Europe and I wasn’t able to watch the very last season of Sex in the City in real time. I had to wait until it was out on DVD and by that time SITC was like religion! Plus, it again was aligning as the ladies were all getting married on the show. Then the show was over, as were my swinging single days. It was the end of an era.
Season Two of Girlfriends Guide to Divorce just ended. My divorce was final 10 months ago. But my journey as an older single woman is just beginning. My career as a writer has just begun (Abby, the main character is also a writer – as was Carrie!). Time will tell if GG2D will have the same longevity and cult following as SITC but for now I love having another show to watch that so closely aligns with my current stage in life. Sex in the City made us feel better about being single. Girlfriends Guide to Divorce makes us feel better about being divorced. Pop culture imitating life and reminding us we are not alone.
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