It’s been two years since the divorce for Stapleton resident Kara Gregory, but the scars remain from a marriage that seemed to deteriorate so quickly. “The worst thing is, the signs were there from the beginning,” says Gregory. “I mean, I must have told him a million times, the big plates go in the front on the bottom rack, the small ones in the back. It’s not that hard.”
But the message never got through to Kara’s now ex-husband Ryan. “Of course there are things I would have done differently,” says Ryan. “I probably wouldn’t have started that affair at the office, and maybe I could have done a better job remembering her birthday or our anniversary, but the dish issue, I doubt I would change. Or at least I don’t think I have the capability to change it.”
For Kara, the affair was far down the list on things that drove the marriage into the ground. “Before you vacuum, empty the damn canister. When that thing is full, it hardly picks anything up. And when you go to the store and I give you a list, stick to the list. I gave you specifics. Don’t get cute and go off on your own. And another thing, we had those hampers for a reason. Your clothes shouldn’t be strewn all over the house.”
Kara has moved on, and has had some short relationships during that time, and is currently not looking for anything serious. “Right now, I am dating a lot of younger guys,” says Kara. “When I start getting serious, I will definitely put whomever I am interested in through a litany of tests. You can bet loading a dishwasher will be one of them.”
Kara believes other women can learn from her mistakes. “Women just need to pay more attention to the details that will end up mattering, and not get so caught up in that ‘love’ portion of it,” says Kara. “Sure, he might be a great guy, but does he leave beer cans sitting around in the living room when goes to bed?” ]]>