“We were almost happy, until we couldn’t pretend anymore."
By Tiana Clark
It took six minutes to get divorced at my dining room table. My new ex-husband sat across from me, holding my left hand. Our cream French bulldog sniffed around for crumbs underfoot. Six minutes to end an eight-year marriage. Poof. Done. All conducted over videoconferencing software called “Cisco Jabber” for the Third Circuit Court of Tennessee.
I had to dress formally, though the hearing was online. I wore the divorce suit that I’d purchased months ago and that had lingered in the closet as the pandemic kept pushing back our original court date. The suit was simple, made of white linen. I wanted to feel formidable, even if I was on the verge of bawling. Before the call, I did my hair and applied my signature lipstick: a bright, matte blue-red. My lawyer sent me instructions to download the software. I
was to be ready 10 minutes before our call time at 9 a.m., and she would send me an email when the county clerk called to allow us to “enter” the virtual courtroom. We were first on the docket.
My virtual divorce felt dreamlike — weeks later, I sometimes wonder whether it really happened. So much of dreaming feels like you’re trying to grab the hem of something that dissipates right in front of you. Videoconferencing has the same effect, inducing an exhausting sense of placelessness...read more
