They say it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Better still — by our estimation, anyway — is to have loved, lost, and then loved again.

That's what happened to a charming couple from a small suburb of Sydney, Australia, called Blacktown.

Mervyn and Barbara Cronan, both 68, first tied the knot in 1957, and then divorced eight years later. Then, a chance meeting in 2005 brought the two together again. The old passion reignited, and the Cronans remarried on May 13, 2006 — the anniversary of their original wedding.

To celebrate the occasion, their four children — Teena, Debbie, John, and Vicki — recently joined them and their grandchildren and great-grandchildren at a family barbecue.

"It was fantastic, having all the four kids together for the first time," Mervyn Cronan tells the Blacktown Sun.

And the two have much to celebrate. All told, the Cronan's now have a whopping 15 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

Added Mervyn: "You can't buy these feelings."

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But why are we telling you about it? Firstly, because the same people who host Daddy Divorce Camps are in the process of putting together a Mommy Divorce Camp. And second, because while these getaways are intended specifically to help daddies, mommies and the rest of the family are supposed to benefit as well.

For about $600, attendees receive crash courses in a range of divorce-related issues — from legal and financial, to family and child matters — along with anger management and stress reduction techniques. Workshops take place to rebuild confidence and assist in the healing and closure process. Campers can also indulge in some extracurricular activities like sports, a comedy show, and poker.

The poker skills aside, it would seem enormously beneficial for at least one member of a splitting couple, if not both, to get better acquainted with the above issues — and take an anger management course or three. Also, as long as Daddy's new confidence doesn't turn into bullying, we'd much rather be dealing with a man in the process of finding himself, than one lost in a sea of fear, anger, and self-pity.

Seems a bit odd, but it could happen sooner than you think. Filed under "Field Notes," the Weddings & Celebrations section recently profiled a newly divorced 35-year-old Atlanta man named Dominic Thomas.

Apparently Thomas, who emailed an announcement of his divorce to 100 people this summer, represents a growing trend. Also this summer, Robert Olen Butler, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and a professor at Florida State University, made headlines when his breakup announcement made it into the press.

In Thomas' two-and-a-half page message, he expresses his appreciation for the emotional support he received from friends and family during the custody battle over his son, among other things. By writing his announcement, Thomas said he was "reclaiming" his life. "I don't want it to be a taboo subject."

Andrew Cherlin, a sociologist who specializes in the study of American families at Johns Hopkins University, tells the Times how divorce announcements would have been unthinkable two generations ago.

"It would have been like announcing an out-of-wedlock pregnancy," he says. "The fact that people aren't embarrassed to send out a divorce announcement tells you how routinized divorce has become."

The practice of divorce announcements can be a risky one, mind you. As the Times notes, the latest edition of Emily Post's Etiquette warns that "announcements can backfire, making the celebrant appear cold-hearted and insensitive."

Sharon Bush, our President's ex-sister-in-law, is now telling anyone who'll listen about how she achieved grace after her divorce from Neil Bush by becoming a devoted follower of the Houston-based TV evangelist Joel Osteen.

"He is like family to me," Bush said of Osteen at a private reception she recently hosted for him and his pastor wife, Victoria. "He helped me heal after my divorce. For 23 years I was a member of the most powerful family there is, and with Joel's help I turned to the most powerful force in the universe."

She says Osteen saved her from the depths after Neil Bush left her broke and devastated in a bitter split four years ago: "I went to church with the Bushes, then they basically put me on the street with a shopping cart. Joel helped me. I'm now working on forgiveness."

Well, we're glad Sharon Bush is doing better, but there's something off-putting about her finding solace in the flashy preachings of a Texas TV evangelist.

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This one's definitely not an affair for the whole family. At the end of the month, Vienna will host what purports to be the first ever divorce fair.

Under the headline, "Start your life afresh," the two-day event was fashioned to help people plan their post-married lives.

Woohoo, sounds like fun! No word yet on what fair food will be available — Vienna sausages? powdered funnel cake? — but couples ready to call it quits will have access to a grab bag of expert lawyers, mediators and consultants well versed on issues of spousal rights and obligations, alimony and child access.

Fairgoers can also expect lectures ranging from a children's view of divorce to single-parenting.

Other exhibitors will include estate agents, life-crisis experts, a company offering package holidays for new divorcées and, ominously, private detective firms and DNA laboratories offering paternity tests. The archdiocese of the city of Vienna has also reserved a stand at the fair.

Seems like Vienna could use the event — nearly 50% of all marriages end in divorce in Austria, and 66% in Vienna. But, is this a trend in the making?

When preparing for pre- and post-divorce, the more resources available the better. Unfortunately, though, a "fair" mentality is bound to attract abusive marketing and merchandising tactics surrounding the business of divorce. Can you say divorce-themed throw pillows?!

For now, we'll be getting our funnel cake fix from the county fair.

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Take Jermaine LaJaune Jackson, a.k.a. Muhammad Abdul Aziz, and his second wife Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza. The two split in 2005 after nine years of marriage, from which point Jermaine's been as much help as an umbrella in a hurricane.

Alejandra's broke and taking care of their two pre-teen sons, Jaffar and Jermajesty. (Jermaine has six other kids, and Alejandra two from a previous relationship with Jermaine's littlest brother, Randy.) She's now even resorted to living with Jackson's 78-year-old mother, Katherine, and says that Jermaine is responsible for $22,741 in debts and unpaid loans.

All to which Jermaine responds: "Get in line, woman!"

"I do not object to an appropriate level of child support," is his official line, according to court documents filed Tuesday as part of their ongoing divorce proceedings. "However, the reality is that [Alejandra] has knowingly misled this court into believing that I have income which I do not. I currently do not have any employment..."

"Thus I find myself in a Catch-22 situation where while I need money, I also need to be very cognizant of what employment I do undertake so as not to degrade my market value and ability to obtain legitimate work in the future. Unfortunately (and sadly), this troubling situation is very common in the entertainment industry."

Still, it's not for lack of trying. Since April, Jermaine's been in talks to team up with La Toya and Tito to serve as judges on a CBS show about the search for the next big band of brothers. We'd watch that!

He also says that he'd be happy to watch the kids if Alejandra wants to get off her butt and get a job.

The women's already spent her career laying bare the breathtaking heights and crushing lows of love. More recently, the singer/poet's been on tour promoting her third album, "The Real Thing: Words and Sounds, Volume 3" — which she began just as her 13-year-marriage ended — along with her heart-wrenching role in Tyler Perry's new movie, "Why Did I Get Married."

"That's what I do," she tells the Associated Press. "I share the light and the dark and everything in between."

To pull off her role as an emotionally afflicted wife in Perry's new film, Scott referred to her own failed marriage. "That was her stuff coming out," Perry says of Scott's performance. "She brought everything that she had experienced in life to that role."

What position does this Nobel Prize winner take on her ex? "He's a good person," Scott says of Lyzell Williams." He's very kindhearted in a lot of ways, and he should never be vilified by anyone because they didn't live in our house."

But, in her work and her personal life, Scott says she's now free to grow and get back in touch with the real Jill Scott. "I've stepped more into my original me than I have been in a long time — just coming from underwater," she says. "I didn't even know I wasn't breathing, but I'm breathing again."

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Imagine Macy's doing a fall ad campaign based on broken marriages. Never, you say?

Well, that's exactly what Debenhams, the British department store chain, is doing with the "Separated and Successful" Club — a 21st Century First Wives Club of well-known women, carrying the message that any hardship can be overcome with confidence, a steadfast support system, and a spankin' new wardrobe.

The SAS Club is made up of some famous British ladies who've
conquered divorce — and looked fabulous doing it — like TV personalities Coleen Nolan and Trisha Goddard, along with author and journalist Bel Mooney, and divorce coach Kirsten Gronning.

It wasn't until her break from actor Shane Ritchie — and an endorsement deal with Debenhams — that Nolan truly discovered the rejuvenating power of shopping.

"It's really hard getting over divorce, especially when a partner has been unfaithful, as this can really knock your confidence — you think that other men won't fancy you," she says. "A new hair cut and a couple of glam outfits is a real confidence booster that will set you on the right
track."

So, on one hand you have a retailer trying to sell some "glam outfits." But, on the other you have a big name brand — in the U.K., at least — using the issue of divorce to convey a message of strength and the potential for positive change. Pretty impressive.

Maybe not as impressive as the Dove brand spending tens of millions of dollars stateside to promote a broader definition of beauty for women of all shapes, sizes, and generations. But, we'd say it's just as groundbreaking and just as ballsy.

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All the usual suspects are listed like "Kramer vs. Kramer," "The First Wives Club," "Irreconcilable Differences," and our all-time fave, "The War of the Roses."

She also devilishly includes Mike Nichols' "Closer," which challenges even the most steadfast romantic, and the equally bleak "We Don't Live Here Anymore." Her top pick, though, "The Squid and the Whale," is a realistic yet heartening depiction of new relationships emerging from the wreckage of old and dying ones — the best you can hope for from a divorce.

Still, there are countless films that brilliantly capture either the harsh realities of splitting, or help us to laugh at the whole affair. While it doesn't explicitly deal with divorce per se, "Reversal of Fortune" perfectly captures the dark complexity of decaying relationships.

We're always a sucker for the cold urbanity of Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives." Then, on the lighter side, there's the adorable Dick van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds in the late 60s' classic "Divorce American Style."

Tell us your top picks. Jim Carrey in "Liar, Liar"? Schwarzenegger in "True Lies"? What will it be?

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Bottom, shmottom. We're sorry to report — seriously, we really are — that things have managed to go from really bad to really, really bad for Britney Spears.

Out of patience with her ridiculous behavior, the judge in Britney's custody battle is now threatening to take away visitation rights with her kids if she doesn't pull it together.

As you've surely heard, this is the same judge who threw Kelly Ripa into an existential tailspin earlier this week by wresting custody of the kids away from Spears.

"The court expressly indicates that a missed test, refusal to submit to a test or failure to respond to the testing agency's call ... shall be deemed ... a failed test," Commissioner Scott Gordon wrote in documents released yesterday.

Gordon's ruling gives the child services monitor — who's expected to supervise Brit's visits with her boys Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2 — the power stop the show "immediately" if she demonstrates any wacky behavior.

The judge has also now mandated that Spears finish "at least three individual counseling sessions" and "at least three joint counseling sessions" with K-Fed by the next court date.

We can't say we're confident about Britney's chances here, but, as we explained earlier this week, bottoming out might be the best thing for her at this point. Judge Gordon, by all accounts, is a pretty nice guy and we're sure wants the best for Britney, too.

Awful, really. Worse though is that fact that MTV — you know, the cable channel for kids — still plans to debut Britney's new single "Gimme More" on Monday! That's so wrong on so many levels, we honestly don't know where to begin.

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