From the outside looking in, it appeared that her relationship had sucked for a really long time. They were one of those couples you dreaded being trapped in a car with. They were also the third couple in our circle to separate this year. Even though I feel like Jack and I are solid, I can’t help but wince when I read all the stories that pretty much say divorce is contagious. My guess is that it isn't really contagious per se, it's that having a friend divorce gives already miserable couples "permission" to do the same.

I'll admit, I did compare some of the details of my marriage to the details of my friend's marriage as she told me about the split. I compared how often we have sex (none of your beeswax), whether or not we like to do the same things, and whether we are moving in the same direction in life. All in all, Jack and I fared favorably, but there was definitely room for some improvement (leaves keyboard to go shag husband -- just kidding). So maybe friends divorcing can actually be good for our marriage? I hope that doesn't sound too horrible.

Have you ever been affected by friends' breakups?