CALGARY, Alberta — A Canadian couple shared their “divorce selfie” on Facebook — and the photo has gone viral.
Shannon and Chris Neuman, both of Calgary, are shown smiling in the photo, which has been shared on Facebook more than 27,000 times.
The couple officially ended their marriage last week. In the caption, Shannon explains the happy selfie:
“Here’s Chris Neuman and I yesterday after filing for divorce! But we’re smiling?! Yep, we’re kooky like that. Are we smiling because the partner we chose for forever turned out not to be the forever partner we needed? Of course not. We’re smiling because we have done something extraordinary (we think anyway!) We have respectfully, thoughtfully and honourably ended our marriage in a way that will allow us to go forward as parenting partners for our children, the perfect reason that this always WAS meant to be, so they will never have to choose. They’ll never have to wonder which side of the auditorium to run to after their Christmas concert or spring play, because we’ll be sitting together. They won’t have to struggle with their own wedding planning because we’ll be sitting on the same side of the aisle – THEIR side.”
Shannon explained the couple struggled to come up with a parenting plan. Despite the struggle, they made it work for their children:
And now that you know it’s possible – please consider our way if you find yourself on this road, or share our message if we can help remind them that it’s possible to love your kids more than you hate/distrust/dislike your ex (which we have felt at times on the journey but for the record we do actually like each other). Nice work #teamneuman #divorceselfie”