Yeah, my grandfathers were…not easy men to live with, but one of my grandmas was a deeply religious immigrant with a shakey grasp of English, an 8th grade level education in her country of origin, and five children to look after. There was no chance of her even thinking of leaving. My other grandma got LEFT for a couple of years and then grandpa came back to her and he was a functioning alcoholic for almost all his adult life, but again, four kids together, and her only work experience was as a waitress. What was she supposed to do?

Till death did they part, but it was not a gloriously happy, loving road that got them there.

We have a family friend whose mother got a divorce in the 1960s from her very abusive husband and the community absolutely reviled her and her kids.

Like, divorced woman’s kids rang the doorbell for trick or treating or a school fundraiser or whatever? They’d get the door slammed in their faces. The kids. It’s not even about what stigma the parents could or would face…people would be terrible to the children who had nothing to do with it.