Divorcees recalls the moment they knew their marriage would end.

Getting divorced? Here are some true stories of divorce from the book "'You Can Keep the Damn China!' And 824 Other Great Tips on Dealing With Divorce" (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $13.95), straight from people who've lived it:

I KNEW MY MARRIAGE WAS OVER WHEN . . .
“... we started marriage counseling. I wanted to keep going, and he didn’t want to go anymore. If he wasn’t willing to try, what hope was there?”
—C.B., Atlanta, married 1 year, divorced 16 years

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“… one day I was scrubbing the dining room chairs, and I thought, ‘Is this all there is?’ I knew then, sure as anything, that there was more. Betty Friedan told me: That’s when I knew it was over.”
—Sharon London, San Francisco, married 16 years, divorced 29 years

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“... I realized I had never been able to be my own person, and this was something I suddenly wanted desperately—to be myself.”
—Monica Willett, Fort Myers, Fla., married 12 years, divorced 1 year

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“... my daughter told me about daddy’s girlfriend, who he had in our house, and who had stolen most of my clothes (including my undergarments).”
—B.D., Stuttgart, Germany, married 7 years, divorced 4 years

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“... he first hit me. But it took me three years of counseling and denial to get me out of it.”
—R.F., Tel Aviv, Israel, married 9 years, divorced 4 years

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© 2007, Hundreds of Heads Books, Inc.