Don’t stay in a bad marriage just because she was your first love

There is something stubbornly African about ‘till death do us part’. Even though wedding vows as we know them today have their roots in Christianity and 16th Century England, the idea of marriage as a permanent bond has always existed within our culture. Whoever you saddled up with, you were stuck with, for better or — more likely—for worse.

It’s a beautiful sentiment, the promise of constancy and steadfastness in the face of whatever life decided to throw at a couple. But it’s because of that promise that we see people staying in relationships which no longer serve them.
It’s why, for example, your grandfather had at least two families and is looked at with nothing but respect. It’s why your shady uncle is still married, even though the whole village knows about his special relationships with every house-help he hires. Never mind that his wife has been frowning for so long her eyebrows are now permanently knitted together.