Olivia Howell knows all too well how it felt, going through her own divorce in 2019 after eight years of marriage and two kids. Her husband decamped with his stuff and she donated other items that triggered unwelcome emotions to a thrift shop.
Howell then got busy replenishing, and trying to make the experience better for others through Fresh Starts. It’s a gift registry specifically for rebuilding after divorce that’s also packed with vetted experts if needed and other resources.
Divorce registries are part of a trend toward breaking the stigma of broken marriages, along with divorce parties and formal divorce announcements akin to wedding and marriage news.
Let me stretch the fingers out, lock in mentally, and make sure I don’t miss any keys with this statement: fuck this stupid idea and fuck this stupid lady person that made a business out of it. Am I reading this correctly that she donated her household items to a thrift shop and then was sad she didn’t have any household items? As an unmarried, childless person, I am offended. Literally shaking as I try to gather my thoughts. I’m already sick and tired of the extravaganza that WEDDINGS have become, where the bride and groom are registering online and asking their guests to shell out hundreds of dollars for luxurious coffee makers and top of the line grills. I went to a wedding last year where you could purchase excursion trips and cabana service for the couples’ honeymoon. Huh? I thought you were supposed to write a check to the couple that would at least cover your plate, but now we’re supposed to finance their back patio remodeling? Don’t even get me started on the cost of being in a wedding these days, from the bachelor party to the suit you have to buy to the hotel for a few nights and travel. I mean, you’re spending $3,000 pre-wedding….and then you have to get them a gift! But at least it sort of makes sense to give a couple some nice things to get their lives together started (even though they’ve probably been living together for a few years already), but now when you realize you married the wrong person and wasted all of our time and money, you want us to pay for that too?????
A toothbrush holder for four, rather than three. Shared bedding. For people putting a life back together after divorce, mundane household objects can be painful marital reminders.
Get the fuck outta here. You can’t use the can opener anymore because it reminds of your ex? Then buy your own fucking can opener. I’m of the belief that gifts should be frowned upon for 2nd and 3rd weddings, but you can chalk me down as making Divorce Registries as ILLEGAL. What’s next, a registry for single people? But apparently I’m in the minority as to thinking this is a stupid idea.
Today, Fresh Starts has between 50,000 and 70,000 monthly visitors. The sisters also host a podcast, “A Fresh Story,” featuring guests discussing how they began again after divorce or navigated other huge life changes.
This cannot become a thing. Let me say this: the first Go Fund Me that I see hit six figures for someone who needs to refurnish their living room because of the divorce they went through, making them have to donate their old couches and upgrade to new ones, I will jump off a bridge.