A 9-second video of a woman's divorced parents' last interaction is incredibly powerful.
The statistics around divorce in America sound grim. About half of couples who tie the knot won't make it, and that's generally considered to be a bad thing in the popular discourse; a sign of too much infidelity, poor communication, and other toxic behavior. But what those numbers fail to tell you about is all the couples who split amicably, or who were never the right fit for each other in the first place. In fact, it's possible–and even common—for people to divorce after many years together and still love each other deeply.
That's exactly the sentiment captured in a beautiful nine-second video filmed by Kerrian Connelly Carro.
The statistics around divorce don't always tell the full story.
Photo by Zoriana Stakhniv on Unsplash
Carro captioned the short clip posted to TikTok: "My parents were divorced over 25 years ago. Met at 12, had me at 19. This was their last video together before my father passed away."
In an interview with Newsweek, Carro explains that the two were finishing up a quick visit with her mom after her dad attended a session of radiation therapy for cancer. Carro filmed the interaction between the two, not knowing for sure that it would be the last time they'd ever see each other.
So much is communicated between the two in just a few seconds of silent footage. They share a loving hug before Carro's mom kisses him on the cheek. She then cinches up his jacket, as if to give him strength to keep on fighting. He pinches her cheeks lovingly and smiles as he turns to leave. And that's the end.
Carro's father would pass away shortly after the video was taken.
Watch the touching moment here:
@kerriannconnellycarro #myparents #ifiwouldhaveknown #deaddadsclub #grief #griefjourney
Carro said that her parents' divorce wasn't always easy.
The love between the two is incredibly obvious even from just a short video, but the journey that came before was far from sunshine and roses. In the interview, Carro says her mom was the love of her dad's life, and it took him a long time to recover from the breakup. She says the two argued for years after splitting, both angry and trying to find a new path in life for themselves.
But eventually, they made peace with not being together, and their love for each other took over. Carro says they became friends again, supporting each other. And you can see it all come to fruition in their final interaction. The video struck a nerve in viewers everywhere, racking up over 18 million views. Commenters were incredibly moved:
"Like that quote 'even though you didn’t make it to the end of my story, I’ll always have the corner folded down on your page as it was one of my favourites.'"
"Soul mates don’t always mean married mates."
"The way she straightened his jacket, and the way he pinched her cheeks tells me everything I need to know about their love."
"Divorce doesn't mean hate. This is proof of that."
People who had experience living with divorce were especially touched:
One commenter said that soulmates don't always have to be "married-mates."
Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash
"My parents were better friends than partners."
"Divorced parents here, but they are still BEST FRIENDS. My dad still helps her with house maintenance and visits her once a week to check in. Soul mates aren’t always married mates!"
"My mom's funeral was the only one I ever saw my dad cry at. They were friends much longer than they were married."
About a third of divorces these days are categorized as friendly or at least neutral, rather than hostile. And even in the cases of more contentious separations, many of them just take a little time until the two people remember what they liked and even loved about each other in the first place.
It's rare for people to get married without a strong connection and bond. Disagreements and life circumstances can get in the way and cloud our feelings, and even make reconciliation impossible, but it's amazing to see the proof in Carro's video that that love doesn't always die out.
The video is also a powerful reminder that divorce isn't some great failure. Sometimes it's exactly what both parties need, even if it hurts.
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Though people are waiting longer and being more particular about marriage, the divorce rate remains pretty stubborn.
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