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No sarcasm here… Don Stark, one of the stars of the popular TV series, “That 70’s Show,” really knows the secret of getting over divorce and family breakup. He played Donna’s father on the globally syndicated show that also launched the careers of Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace…

Why do we think he deserves a prize?

His ex-wife and her family suffered a disaster recently when their home caught fire. When Don heard the news, he reportedly raced over to the house, only to find a smouldering mess.

He promptly helped the victims pack up what they could, and took them to stay in his own house — ex-wife, her new hubby and their family.

What a fantastic example to set about getting over — and more importantly BEYOND — the hard feelings of divorce and breakup.

They all probably will have some uncomfortable moments, but that he was willing to open his own home to the ex and her new family is nothing short of a spectacular real-life demonstration that the painful feelings of loss and the distress of divorce can be reframed into a positive outcome.

Are you in the middle of a painful breakup? Try following Don Stark’s example — be kind, be helpful, and above all, be friends.

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Here we are again entering the holidays — a time that can be either magical or horrible for children in broken families.

The very best gift you could give your kids and yourself is the gift of peace and forgiveness. Stop the feuding.

Drop the drama.

Turn the anger and pain into personal growth and a decision to put happiness in the forefront of your life.

Imagine how happy your children would be to see their Moms and Dads smiling at each other. What type of signal do you think that would send to your children?

It tells them that relationships can be rebuilt, and people who loved each other at some time in the past can still be friends.

This isn’t really a difficult objective. All you have to do is agree on a “truce” for the holidays, then allow yourself to remember the happy moments of your past relationship. They really did happen!

Use humour — laughing and joking can work wonders in shifting the angry energy of separation and divorce to a feeling of happiness.

And if you have to, just pretend! By acting happy, you’ll actually create a pleasant environment, and some of it might just rub off on yourself!

Above all, take responsibility for showing your children what it means to forgive and move on.

Happy Holidays!

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This Tiger Woods Scandal is taking on a life of its own — something like a tiger chasing his own tail — an endless loop of revelations that fuel the right-wing religious blogs. How soon they forget about their own poster child,  Jim Baker.

Unfortunately, Tiger’s sordid sex life is bound to be making headlines for some time to come… The latest reports now show the championship golfer has had to engage the services of a “crisis management team” on more than one occasion to arrange the silence of other women through financial settlements.

It’s intriguing how this story resembles that of Michael Jackson, and we can only hope that Tiger Woods recovers better than Jackson did.

The general discomfort and fear of dealing with sexual matters openly is embedded in American society, and it’s heavily doused with right-wing religious syrup.

Perhaps with more open attitudes that negate the need for lying and cheating, we could see the situation exactly as it is: Tiger Woods is a championship golfer and a heterosexual male who likes to have sex with different partners.

What’s the big deal? He’s hardly the only one…

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That’s right. We’ve been engaged in “virtual rubber-necking” since Thanksgiving, gobbling up all the tidbits of Tiger Woods’ I-gate — that’s short for “Infidelitygate”… We’ve heard as many sordid details as the media has been able to dig up, and finally — FINALLY — someone has asked about the kids.

Tiger and his wife, Elin, have two toddlers — Sam, age two years, and Charlie, age 10-months.

The latest chapter in this spat of lying lovers and cheating spouses is that State of Florida child protection officers visited the Woods’ home. They say it was a “routine visit” prompted by allegations of domestic violence.

Seems just a tad bit late, considering this incident of  suspected domestic violence is said to have occurred on Thanksgiving — weeks ago!

Getting back to the point of this post — it’s amazing that the welfare of these children was not THE FIRST PRIORITY.  Children in those formative years need safe nurturing homes, and shame on Elin and Tiger for not keeping this in mind.

Perhaps wedding vows should be changed from “in sickness and in health” to “in times of blatant stupidity and in those fleeting periods of success that can be destroyed by the aforesaid stupidity.”

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We could be brash and just say that obviously too many people don’t have enough to do, but that would be ignoring the fact that Michael Jackon was adored Worldwide, and his trials and tribulations kept him in the media spotlight despite his declining music career. Other recent celebrity deaths also triggered a widespread sense of personal loss — Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, Heath Ledger…

This recent post sums up a sort of “social theory of relativity:”

One reader wrote: “Everyone is out making a big deal about these people, and don’t even get me started about Jon & Kate.  Since when does a divorce merit a half hour on Fox news? I’ve lost friends in Iraq, but no one gives two shits about that!”

Yes, it’s truly sad that celebrity divorces and TTs (Tiger Transgressions) make the headlines while young soldiers are dying on the front lines of war, with barely a mention… Where are our priorities?

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