Arrivederci You Old Biddy!

One of my first cases as a newly minted attorney was a divorce between an 85 year old man and his 80 year old wife.  The couple owned several investment properties that supplemented their income.  The husband was upset that his wife gave him an allowance of a few hundred dollars while she spent the bulk of their earnings on fancy bedazzled cat sweaters, hard candy and Lawrence Welk records.  (I assume that is what she spent her money on).   Both divorcing parties were hard of hearing which led to a comical scene of both attorneys and judge basically shouting during the proceedings.  Once the divorce was granted, the elderly lady strode up to my client and slugged him. It was my entry into family law.

At the time, I wondered if I had the record for oldest client to get a divorce.  I wasn't even close.  That record can be found in the Italian courts.  A 99 year old man is reportedly divorcing his 96 old wife after 77 years of marriage.

Apparently, poor Antonio had discovered that his wife Rosa was having an affair.  He found a letter in an old chest of drawers to her lover.  She had an affair in the 1940s.  Despite having 5 children, 

12 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild, it was the last straw for Antonio.  Coupled with her constant yammering during the Italian Price is Right, drinking all of his Orange Juice, and making pasta with...gasp...sauce out of a jar, he couldn't take anymore. (Again, I can only surmise that this is what happened.)  The Italian press reports that Antonio met Rosa in the 1930s when he was a young Carabinieri officer in Naples.