Montana Values

Montana, in my mind, was a place filled with hardcore, God-fearing Republicans, with a gun and a ranch.

Funnily enough, I'm not that far off. People ARE religious, but their church is the wide open spaces of the state. If a man here needs some reflection time etc, he just fucks off into the forest with his bow and hides out with his own thoughts, maybe killing something he will subsequently eat, but not always. I appreciate this concept.

I've met a couple of guys here who have been 'taken to the cleaners' by their ex-wives, but they just go "Oh well," and then rebuild.

When I got divorced, my ex took 'everything', but I came to the understanding that it was only stuff. I'm not going to fight over a car, microwave, set of salad spoons, etc, etc.

What's the point?

They are NOT the important things that need to be worked out in a divorce; your own and your kids mental/physical well-beings are.

I expected people living as families even if it didn't work, cos that's the way it is, but instead I've met a large number of people in Montana who have been divorced, some of them three or four times. Although their relationships didn't work out, all the people I've talked to made sure their children were OK. Their kids meant the world to them, and so they should.

This, I totally appreciate.

Despite being completely jaded by my marriage experience, and never wanting to experience it again (at the moment), I do respect those who are married and make it work. It's certainly not easy, and you ALWAYS have to want it. I know how hard this can be and how it's much easier to believe it will just work, and then before you know it, you end up stuck in a rut.
I realize you have to make sure everyday, that you spend time remembering all the things you love and like about your partner. Talk to them, tell them HOW YOU FEEL, and don't focus on the negative stuff. Let them grow, grow yourself, and grow together.

It's not easy, but why should a great thing be easy to keep?!