Completely unexpectedly, Bonnie St. Claire recently announced that she and her husband Anne Jan Jongbloed have separated. Where did it go wrong?
What benefit do you experience from the divorce?
“Anne Jan has a completely different profession than me. He works in funeral care but also in a taxi company. Sometimes he comes home late at night or late in the morning, at a time when I need to sleep in. When I got up afterwards, he still had to sleep for most of the day, so it had to be quiet in the house. For example, I kept thinking that our dog Bibi was not allowed to bark. Constantly taking each other into account was a bit of a struggle. At one point I told Anne Jan that I was going to be devastated. I couldn’t sleep properly. It’s not like I was sleep deprived, but it’s best to sleep until you wake up naturally. Moreover, looking after yourself at home all day and being a little careful because someone else is sleeping, I no longer thought that was a healthy relationship.”
How did you discuss that?
“I explained it calmly to Anne Jan. I suggested that he have his own house, where it doesn’t matter what time he comes home and no one has to take him into account. He can just sit down in his own house and do whatever he wants. That also gives me more freedom. We discussed this with each other as adults, without arguing or anything.”
How are you enjoying being apart so far?
“We haven’t lived together for a few months now. Amazingly, it works great.”
Image: Andries Jelle de Jong
