November 2, 2011

The Power of (Urban) Myth

Marc Comtois

This is the first time I've heard this version* of a rather infamous story involving a certain current Presidential candidate:

It was the spring of 1980.

I was 13 years old, and we were about to leave Fairfax, Va., and drive to Carrollton, Ga., for the summer. My parents told my sister and me that they were getting a divorce as our family of four sat around the kitchen table of our ranch home.

Soon afterward, my mom, sister and I got into our light-blue Chevrolet Impala and drove back to Carrollton.

Later that summer, Mom went to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for surgery to remove a tumor. While she was there, Dad took my sister and me to see her.

It is this visit that has turned into the infamous hospital visit about which many untruths have been told. I won't repeat them. You can look them up online if you are interested in untruths. But here's what happened:

My mother and father were already in the process of getting a divorce, which she requested.

Dad took my sister and me to the hospital to see our mother.

She had undergone surgery the day before to remove a tumor.

The tumor was benign.

As with many divorces, it was hard and painful for all involved, but life continued.

As have many families, we have healed; we have moved on.

We are not a perfect family, but we are knit together through common bonds, commitment and love.

My mother and father are alive and well, and my sister and I are blessed to have a close relationship with them both.

The one I've heard--umpteen times--is the Newt Gingrich served his cancer-stricken wife divorce papers while she was on her deathbed. So now it turns out she's still alive. And now, as Paul Harvey once said, you know the rest of the story.


*Which, you know, just might be the definitive version given it's an eyewitness account and all. Right. I'm sure conspiracy buffs will totally take this one at face value.

Comments, although monitored, are not necessarily representative of the views Anchor Rising's contributors or approved by them. We reserve the right to delete or modify comments for any reason.

Many divorces are long, drawn out, decisions. Many marriages have fallen so low that the appearance of a boyfriend, or girlfriend, do not immediately precipitate a divorce.

I have been told by a number of couples that they had long ago decided on a divorce, but they had been faced with a choice. Go on a family vacation, or pay for a divorce. They elected the vacation.

So, this version of Newt's story does not surprise me. I Googled it and found that Salon had published this version. Few are hard hearted enought to serve the wife on her deathbed, or even before a pending operation/procedure. Sure makes a good story though, doesn't it?

Posted by: Warrington Faust at November 2, 2011 5:34 PM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?

Important note: The text "http:" cannot appear anywhere in your comment.