The Divorce Selfie Is Officially a Thing, Now (And Maybe a Good One!)

Last September, we wrote about it when the “first” divorce selfie went viral. Yesterday, our hearts were warmed (yeah I know, but stay with me here) when we saw Buzzfeed’s post on how divorce selfies have really become a thing, and this morning, we saw the trend spotlighted on Good Morning America.

Then, as I finished up my morning coffee, I flipped through Instagram and saw that my friends Steve and James had posted their very own divorce shot:

Steve and James co-founded the crazy-popular soap, lotion and potion shop (and now salon!) Duross & Langel in Midtown Village in 2004, and tied the knot in legal Massachusetts in 2005. They separated in the fall of 2011, and in the spring of 2012, James’ job with IKEA took him to Europe.

Thanks to blockades created by laws and logistics, they were unable to officially divorce at that time—but the two kept in touch; James was still involved in the business, and anyway, they were still friends. Pictures of them touring the Austrian countryside during Steve’s visits were just a normal thing for their friends to see on social media.

Well, James is back in Philly, the two are still co-founders and business partners, and as of today, they are officially and legally divorced. And still, as you can see, happy to be together in some way (though the picture was definitely Steve’s idea. Sorry James.). “People have got to find a better way to move forward than hating each other,” says Steve. “And we truly are best friends.”

And that’s why I think what these pictures convey is actually a good thing: It’s not a happy circumstance, of course, that they are divorcing—and undoubtedly in other moments not depicted in pictures, there were no smiles to be seen—but isn’t it nice to see people who, although they are breaking up and going their separate ways, are doing so in such an amicable, loving, respectful and even united way? You imagine these non-couples going forth, always wishing the best for the other person, texting each other on birthdays and who knows, in some cases, maybe even remaining lifelong friends like James and Steve. For some people, divorce is simply their reality—seems to me that going through it with a genuine smile on their face (and even memorializing those smiles in a selfie!) has got to be the best possible way to weather it.

Watch the GMA spot below:

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RELATED: Divorce Selfies, Divorce Packages—Is This Some Weird Sign of the Times? 

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