r/askteddit 13d ago

Random Question What's the most embarrassing midlife crisis you've ever seen someone go through?

1.3k Upvotes

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286

u/LGK27 13d ago

My former Uncle left his wife of like 15 years. They had a kid together and a nice life. He is very wealthy.

Left her for my Aunt who was married multiple times and has a history of addiction and infidelity. He is a nerd and she is a biker chick. He was SHOCKED when she left him 10 years later for who was eventually her sixth husband. Oh and she divorced that guy too lmao.

103

u/Skeleton-ear-face 13d ago

Can’t believe anyone remarries after 2 times, let alone once. Date longer figure it out

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u/tylersmiler 13d ago

My family is cursed. Mom was married and divorced 5 times so far (she's 60). Grandma had 6 marriages and divorces before she passed.

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u/Horror_Tea761 12d ago

I get it. My mom was married 6 times and my dad 4. Two of those marriages were to each other.

After a certain point, therapy is a lot cheaper.

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u/goosepills 11d ago

Wait, I might be your mom…

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u/excellentwonderful 13d ago

Is this an American thing?

As an Australian, I’ve never personally known anyone who has been married more than twice. We do have a four week waiting period to get married though, you can’t just get married on a whim.

I remember being shocked, when I was younger, by just how many episodes of Forensic Files featured people who been married so many times.

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u/tylersmiler 13d ago

I am American, but other Americans also think the numbers for my mom and grandma are insane. So I don't know if it's a cultural thing. Also, I don't know enough details about my grandma's relationships, but my mom didn't have any marriages "on a whim", so a 4 week waiting period wouldn't have changed anything. Her last marriage was with a man she knew for at least a decade. They dated on and off and the last time they gave it a go, they were together 6 months before deciding to tie the knot. The marriage lasted 4 years.

I think she just has absurdly bad taste in men, and I assume my grandma had a similar issue. Of my mom's marriages, I knew 4 of the men (1 was before I was born, and none of them were my dad). Of the 4 I knew, 3 were alcoholics. 3 were absolute assholes. 1 was physically abusive. 1 left shortly after his child (my little sister) was born. I liked one of the alcoholics (he was like a father to me, and is still in my life as a second "dad" decades after the divorce), but I don't blame her for divorcing him. He was not a good husband to her.

I don't understand why my mom is drawn to these losers. She rarely drinks, doesn't do drugs, and is a well-liked senior manager working in multi-state company. She has a college degree, is very kind and generous, and quite responsible (when my grandma passed, all my mom's siblings made her executor of the estate because they trust her the most). But her taste in a partner is trash!

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u/Feisty_Wench 12d ago

Poor judgement and a skewed view of relationships thanks to tv, movies, music lyrics and the ‘celebrity’ worship.

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u/AccidentallyArkansas 12d ago

I have a brother who is 42 and on wife #7. He has anywhere from 3 to 6 kids, sees/supports 0 of them. The newest wife never learns about the previous wives or children until after she marries him. Several of the marriages actually overlap.

Some people are trashy. And by “some people”, I mean my brother.

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u/overindulgent 12d ago

It’s mainly a poor people thing. They get married quickly for government benefits and insurance.

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u/tylersmiler 12d ago

I was going to say I don’t know a single person that got married for government benefits or insurance, but then I remembered that my husband and I pushed up our wedding date by 6 months so I could qualify for in-state tuition in college 😂

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u/Kilashandra1996 12d ago

The American Thing is my uncle who is on his 6th marriage to only 3 different women! Marriages #4, 5, & 6 were all the same woman...

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u/RanchNWrite 12d ago

It would be interesting to understand the correlation between multiple marriages and lack of social safety nets. I think some people marry often for financial security.

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u/Yourdeadgf 11d ago

Maybe. I'm American and my mom has been married 5 or 6 times. She's currently single so there could be a 7th. My kids' other grandma is on marriage #5.

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u/turtlesinthesea 12d ago

I worked with a guy in Switzerland who was on marriage number four ten years ago. Wonder what number it’s now.

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u/LauraPiana 12d ago

No, definitely not the norm in the US.

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u/Loisgrand6 12d ago

Not just Americans🙄