First Wives World Is Their Oyster, Pearls Included

FWW — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 06:00:00 -0500

By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI Published: January 13, 2008

THEIR ring fingers were empty.

Their wine glasses were full.

Another meeting of First Wives World had come to order.

"We still love men," Debbie Nigro, the moderator, told a group of 10 divorced women gathered around her in a Midtown apartment on Jan. 2.

"Since my own divorce, I always say I like men more on weekends now," Ms. Nigro added. "Well, maybe every other weekend."

Ms. Nigro is a founder and the self-described "Chief Executive Girlfriend" of First Wives World, a support group for women in different phases of life before, during or after divorce.

Women like Annette Montalbano, 49, a mother of five from Merrick, N.Y.

"If there is a next time, I want rich and handsome," she said. "And educated wouldn't hurt, either."

Women like Sharon Jacobson, 46, a mother of two from Scarsdale, N.Y., who was asked by Ms. Nigro if she would ever consider marrying again.

"What, and give up on all the great sex?" Ms. Jacobson shot back. The women, who ranged in age from 31 to 65, spent the better part of two hours laughing and crying, soul-searching and griping, even networking.

They found one another at www.firstwivesworld.com. That Web site grew out of research conducted by Paul Lambert and Jonas Neilson, business partners who were investigating how to set the proper mood and tone for a musical adaptation of "The First Wives Club," the 1996 movie about three divorced women whose husbands left them for younger women. They hope to stage the musical in New York next year.

firstwivesworld - First Wives World Is Their Oyster, Pearls Included - Comments

First Wives World Is Their Oyster, Pearls Included