Choices, Changes & Friends

1970S After Divorce

In the tumultuous 1970s, four twenty-five-year-old female friendsBeth, Connie, Michael, and Aprilnewly divorced with children had no idea how their lives could change so radically and so quickly. The somewhat ordinary, Chicago suburbanite housewives became willing participants in escapade sex, some drugs, and more alcohol than needed. They liked men, just not the ones theyd been married to, and though not fully fairy tale dreamers, a little romance would be nice. They experimented dating men, not acceptable before, tried some drugs, often drank too much, but danced their cares away. With new male attention, they grew more brazen and confident exploring the gamut of men for dalliance or clandestine. Also, some bikers and even a mnage trois with a famous movie star for Connie and Beth that empowered them more than expectedall about laughing and learning. They took college classes, started a house-cleaning service, and thought about their changes as the friendships shifted. Dilemmas and decisions of children choices, real careers and the biggie of remarriage came up, with a sense of wiry satire and sarcasm in situations to handle whatever hit them. Life separated them when Beth and April moved out of States then Beth overseas; still they reunited frequently. Twenty-plus years later, they became definitely changed women in so many different ways. Yet some things did not changehow they supported each other through thick and thin and other circumstances that would have torn weaker women apart. Their history together was the foundation that kept them moving forward through lifes harshest realities. They changed their lives and encouraged many other women to do the same, sharing their experiences of the wild and crazy times of their younger years.