My parents divorced after 49 years of marriage.

Outsiders rarely know what really goes on between a married couple, so generalisations abound and are often wrong. In my parents’ case, my mother turned a blind eye to my Dad’s unfaithfulness for decades because he stuck to the rules they had agreed to. It might not have been as overt as it sounds, but my Dad knew he was to be discreet, put the family first and never publically humiliate my Mum. When he broke these rules, she left. Even though she was in her 70’s. It was as simple as that, but it came at the end of a lot of thought, talking and heartache. They even remained on reasonable terms after he married his ladyfriend.

It was a breaking point for her, and other people have points beyond which the whole marriage falls apart and they just want to bail out.

I’ve known people leave long and apparently successful marriages who later reveal a miserable home life, and you’d never have known.