{"id":3756,"date":"2017-03-17T20:19:56","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T20:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/?p=3756"},"modified":"2017-03-17T20:30:42","modified_gmt":"2017-03-17T20:30:42","slug":"jennifer-garner-ben-affleck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/2017\/03\/jennifer-garner-ben-affleck.html","title":{"rendered":"What Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck and I have in Common"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember the day I sat in my marriage counselor’s office and declared, “I will do anything to save my marriage. Anything! Just tell me what to do.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was so naive.<\/em><\/p>\n

I believed one person could care enough for two. I alone would find a way to fix our marital problems.<\/p>\n

I honestly don’t remember my marriage counselor’s response that day.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"pexels-photo-313702\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was in the infancy of divorce, the early days, the first few months which led me to retain about a third of what he told me. <\/em><\/p>\n

Can you blame me?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was multi-tasking – \u00a0snatching tissue after tissue, sniffling, crying, over-explaining, begging and of course, at times attempting to demonstrate a decent amount of self-respect. That is, in between tightly cradling fists of Kleenex – just one more thing for me to do.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was an emotional over-achiever!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

There was only so much time I could devote to listening, right?<\/em><\/p>\n

Making matters more complicated was my intention to alter my first name. Tenacity would replace Colleen.\u00a0The proverbial ‘dog with a bone’ would be child’s play in my world. The marriage would prevail!<\/p>\n

I recently read a curated piece on a Vanity Fair\u00a0<\/em>interview with Jennifer Garner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems I was also married to Ben, well, ‘a Ben’ so to speak.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The curated article led me to reference the original piece.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/hollywood\/2016\/02\/jennifer-garner-talks-kids-career-ben-affleck<\/p>\n

Naturally, when Jen said divorce had been “a year of wine” it confirmed we were related.\u00a0<\/em>It seems only\u00a0Hollywood is keeping us two Sista’s apart. Further,\u00a0validation? I <\/em>am, after all, a Virginia girl and she my West Virginia Counterpart.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Jen’s relationship thoughts are eloquent and profound.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among them, “You have to have two people to dance a marriage.”<\/em><\/p>\n

As a writer, when I find myself re-reading a girl’s words it means they have something to leave with me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And in between Jen’s wisdom, I can sense her tenacity. Her resistance to give up. Her desire to keep coming back around. Her devotion and loyalty to family and seeing the best in those she loves.<\/p>\n

I can envision her emotional multi-tasking.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0snatching of tissue after tissue, sniffling, crying, over-explaining, begging and of course, at times attempting to demonstrate a decent amount of self-respect. That is, in between tightly cradling fists of Kleenex – just one more thing for her to do.<\/em><\/p>\n

And for no other reason but the value, she places on love. An irrefutable commodity in her world. A girl deeply rooted in her own family and West Virginia roots. A girl who wants her children to see the best of love just as she sees the best of those she loves.<\/em><\/p>\n

At least I find myself in respectable company.\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
With my Hollywood by way of West Virginia emotional soul Sista and the words, she leaves with me.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

(Photo courtesy of Pexels)<\/p>\n

Follow me on Facebook @Colleen Orme National Columnist on Twitter @colleenorme
\non Pinterest @colleensheehyorme
\nE-mail: Colleen.Sheehy.Orme@gmail.com
\nwww.colleensheehyorme.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember the day I sat in my marriage counselor’s office and declared, “I will do anything to save my marriage. Anything! Just tell me what to do.” I was so naive. I believed one person could care enough for two. I alone would find a way to fix our marital problems. I honestly don’t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":613,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[311,1],"tags":[247,210,2,281],"class_list":["post-3756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrities","category-divorce-2","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity","tag-divorce","tag-hollywood"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck and I have in Common - How Great Thou Part<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/2017\/03\/jennifer-garner-ben-affleck.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck and I have in Common - How Great Thou Part\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I remember the day I sat in my marriage counselor’s office and declared, “I will do anything to save my marriage. 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