Finding Help When Splitting Up

    When Vic’s marriage of 32 years suddenly ended in 2000, she did what most people do when faced with a broken relationship. She turned to friends and family for advice and support. But now, in the age of the World Wide Web, complete strangers turn to her. 

“When I blog, I think about my audience, and I think about how I felt six years ago – how devastated I was, how every day was just a struggle, and about how I’ve changed. I think about the people who read this who are in such pain. I see the times that they come (to the blog) – at 3 a.m. or in the early morning and they can’t sleep, they can't think straight.

“Some will stay on a very long time and never say a word and some will send me tentative little notes saying ‘thank you, you don't know me, but you just don’t know how this helps.’ And you realize they are hurting and that they are not thinking straight, so you try to think straight for them and to tell them they'll be okay.”

Vic’s blog is one of thousands of dedicated to the subject of divorce that have sprung up on the Internet in the past few years. Unlike some of the commercial Web sites that provide directories of attorneys and services or storehouses of legal and financial information, blogs reflect a more human side of divorce and present a wide range of opinion and perspectives.

Some are outlets for bitter rants about ex-partners who did them wrong while others focus on divorce laws, children and financial considerations. Still others, like Vic’s < http://divorcedat50.blogspot.com > provide solace and support – especially for her target audience: women over 50. “I began to blog when I felt emotionally ready. This was five years after the divorce, and six years after Bob left me. Interestingly, I found that the more I wrote about the painful incidents, the less they hurt,” said Vic, who asked to use her pseudonym and not to be identified. “This blog has been cathartic, surprisingly so.”