How to Help Your Friend Deal with Divorce
Supporting your friend through divorce isn’t as challenging as it seems. Cover the bases with these 3 fool proof steps, and you’ll have his back like no one else.
1. Stock his fridge and feed him some good grub
Divorce involves a lot of sadness and pain. Your friend is grieving the end of a major part of his life and he’s probably not going to take good care of himself. Your friend may have a hard time handling things that his ex-wife took care of previously. For most men, this means cooking meals.
Get over there and stock up some good eats in his fridge or make his favorite food, like BBQ chicken or homemade chili. With recipe blogs and videos you have no excuse not to whip out your chef’s hat and make him some killer grub.
Also, a freezer full of TV dinners requires very little effort for a meal. Whether you need to take your friend to the grocery store or just bring the food over yourself, making sure he has food is a great way to offer help.
2. Offer to hold onto mementos he’s not ready to throw away
When a marriage ends, there are always items left behind – photo albums, souvenirs from trips, anniversary gifts. Your friend might decide to throw these things away one day, but he probably won’t do it right away. Keeping them around his new place can make them a painful reminder of his loss.
So offer to hold onto these things for a while! Offer to help him pack up the items. Having someone help with packing the items up can be a great relief. Not to mention, having the items stored away in a box in the garage or closet will help your friend keep moving forward.
3. Hang out with him, listen and be there
One of the biggest changes in divorce is transitioning from being married to being single. Most married men spend the majority of their time with their wives and kids – going to movies, taking vacations, just hanging out around the house. It can be a difficult change to go from always having someone to do things with to being alone.
Bring him into your life a bit more. Invite him over to dinner at your place, or get your friends together and go on a hike. Call him up to see how he’s doing. Most importantly, be there for him. If he calls because he just needs to talk, listen. Simply being available when your friend needs company will go a long way.
The bottom line is: Stick Around
There’s no one-size-fits all solution to helping a friend through divorce. Even if you don’t know what to say, just being there to show you care is enough. Simple gestures will mean a lot to him. Continuing to be his friend is one of the best things you can do. Call the professional Olympia divorce attorneys at Divorce Lawyers for Men today.
