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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Denise Richards, Charlie Sheen's ex-wife, is blasting the "Two and a Half Men" star, for of all things, a lack of discretion.

Richards is screaming bloody murder over a statement Sheen sent out earlier this week concerning their ongoing custody battle, telling the TV show "Extra": "I was disappointed to learn of my ex-husband Charlie Sheen's current statement regarding our personal affairs. This was and should still be a private matter that we as responsible parents settled privately."

Sheen's earlier statement expressed frustration over the type of supervision that Richards is subjecting him to when his daughters come to visit. "Until I'm granted the ability to hire my own nanny, she is required to provide one and I was terribly insulted that she felt her ‘assistant' was a suitable replacement."

Sheen went on to label his ex's actions as "transparent and unnecessary sanctions, that have nothing to do with responsible co-parenting and everything to do with punishment and control," adding, "As long as I am forced to live under these conditions with my children, people are going to hear about it."

A couple of weeks ago, Sheen alleged Richards is making it difficult for him to have more a more open custody arrangement with the couple's two daughters because she wants another baby with him. Sheen is about to be remarried. Maybe that's another reason why Richards is so upset.

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Actress Jennifer Esposito, best known for her role in 2005's Oscar-winning film "Crash" and her TV role in the WB's "Related," is now divorced from actor Bradley Cooper after only four months of marriage.

Esposito and Cooper, who played the bullying fiancé in "The Wedding Crashers," married last December and separated on April 5. The couple filed for divorce on May 1 and will finalize the paperwork by November, according to published reports. Talk about a quickie marriage!

The split doesn't seem to have dampened Cooper's fortunes. Tabloids are reporting that Brad, who was dumped by Jennifer, has taken up with another Jennifer--Jennifer Aniston--with whom he stars in the Drew Barrymore-directed film "He's Just Not That Into You."

For her part, Esposito appears to be taking the divorce whirlwind in stride. "It is what it should be," Esposito told People magazine. "You have to move on. That's what life is about; taking a situation, making the best of it and moving on."

Wise words from the 35-year-old Esposito with one marriage under her belt.

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Voters tend to grumble over the sameness of candidates running for high public office. Thankfully, the marital histories of this season's crop of presidential hopefuls offers a smorgasbord of alternatives. The Christian Science Monitor this week takes a look at the field, particularly the glaring contrast between Mitt Romney and Rudolph Giuliani.

Next to his wife of 38 years, Romney's wholesome, Norman Rockwell-esque image stands in stark contrast to that of Giuliani, who suffered a very public divorce from second wife, Donna Hanover a few years ago, while still involved with his twice divorced wife Judi.

Still, only 9% of Americans say a divorce would make them less likely to vote for a presidential candidate, according to a Pew Research poll cited by the Monitor. Ronald Reagan, considered a god by most conservatives, was a divorced man. And the percentage who claim "old-fashioned values about family and marriage" has declined, dropping over the past two decades from 87% to 76%.

Like Hollywood, Washington is a funny place where the reflection of our social mores is often contorted as if by a funhouse mirror. And Giuliani's high-paid contortionists are no doubt doing their best to keep voters focused on issues other than personal history. Not to say there's anything un-American about divorce. But, you have to ask: Without Giuliani's personal history and skeletons, would Americans have been introduced to Barack Obama, let alone considered electing him to the highest office in the land?

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You wouldn't know it from the screaming tabloid headlines, but the business of divorce is becoming a kinder, gentler affair. That's one very broad conclusion reached by editors at the CBS "The Early Show," who are examining the state of the modern marriage and its dissolution in a series this week.

Historically, "In nasty courtroom battles, divorce evolved into the winner takes all mentality," explained "Early Show" contributor Jill Brooke. "But now a movement called mediation and collaborative law makes it possible for both parties to win while reducing the emotional and financial costs to the family."

With mediation, "You're not sacrificing your right to go to court," according Dr. Jonah Schrag, who was featured on the program guiding couples through the process of diffusing emotional bombs which so often disrupt settlement talks and negotiations. "All you're doing is saying, let's give a different way a chance here... Maybe it will come out much better."

Call me cynical, but it seems like "The Early Show" is setting the bar for civility pretty low by noting how nasty divorces were in the 1980s.

This week the series takes closer looks at divorce among seniors, divorce prevention, making shared custody work and parental alienation syndrome, among other issues.

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Three years after his split from the ravishing Uma Thurman, actor Ethan Hawke is owning up to his part in the breakdown--sort of.

"It's unfair when one person's career is taking off and the other is really suffering," the 36-year-old actor told AMC's "Shootout" in an interview that aired Sunday. What happens... it's not that they're jealous of each other; it's that the person you share your life with isn't in the mood to support," Hawke says. "You want to have a pity party for yourself, but they're off to the Golden Globes and you don't want to go because everyone is going to think you are jealous."

Hawke and Thurman, 37, were married in 1998. By 2004, Thurman's acting career was in full-swing; she starred as the master assassin in Quentin Tarantino's blockbuster film "Kill Bill" Volumes 1 and 2. At the time, Hawke had peripheral roles in indie flicks like "Before Sunset."

"Joanne Woodward," Hawk told "Shootout," "put her career on the back burner for that marriage [to Paul Newman] to last."

We're confused, Ethan. Are you supposed to be Joanne Woodward or Paul Newman in that equation?

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