The announcement that Bill Gates and his wife Melinda French Gates are calling it quits after 27 years of marriage, three grown children, billions earned and much of it given to charity and good causes - including development of a Covid-19 vaccine, is being reported internationally. Apparently, Bill once dated Ann Winblad for seven years but ended the relationship when he met Melinda. Ann was given the respect of approving of the marriage - or at least giving a strong opinion. I know that's a bit like Camilla Parker Bowles approving of Diana Spencer as a wife for Prince Charles. Ann is also married.
As reporters hunt down "the other woman" who (probably) doesn't exist, though a billionaire like Bill Gates and a billionaire like Melinda French Gates are certainly going to be confettied with persons of interest, the reveal is that for years Bill and Ann spend one weekend a year together at a beach house in North Carolina.
I thought this was terrific. You can bet it was negotiated with Melinda as well as Ann and Ann's husband. Obviously Ann and Bill decided they valued a long friendship and wanted to keep it and did despite many years full of changes. Out of 56 weekends in a year, Ann got one, but it was enough. If Ann were a male best friend very likely Bill could more easily spend a weekend or a whole wifeless vacation week with him, without scrutiny or anyone calling the place they stayed a "love nest." The old friends do a lot of catching up during that weekend.
It seems to me that Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates also have negotiated a friendship, one that includes continuing the philanthropic work of their Foundation. They are also keenly aware that due to their wealth their lives are lived on the world stage and it wouldn't surprise me that the announcement and all else has already been planned. If there is anything that broke them up, busyness is probably to blame.
The reporters know they have a Big Story but are some of them desperate enough to make stories up out of little evidence? I picked this story up on a publication that I read called Daily Mail (i.e. Daily Mail UK or Daily Mail Online). During Covid-19 lockdown, I found myself reading it way too much. I realized that many an article in this publication is based on speculation or "Royal Experts," many who have written books that have gained them the "Expert" title. However, their opinions are touted as Journalism, and Journalism is based on facts - OK research - interviews - fact finding. If you read the publication enough, you soon realize that there are many conflicting opinions about Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle AKA The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as an example. That is what makes the publication, one of the most popular in the world, a tabloid rather than a 'hard news" venue.
However, maybe no one but Bill and Ann know if their weekends are part of a SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR relationship. By bringing this up, I do not intend to imply it is. Same Time Next Year was a play I once saw at a straw hat theatre that was made into a movie in the 1970's. In it, two people who had an affair agree to meet each year. She tells her husband she goes to a religious retreat. It's fascinating because they are devoted to their spouses and have no intention of divorce but the personal changes each goes through all those years shows them in distinctly different places in life. His wife dies first.
While one article in the Daily Mail called what Bill and Melinda and Ann have an "odd arrangement" I have to wonder how many people just wish they could have one just like this with someone of the opposite sex with whom they have a valued relationship.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEND ONE WEEKEND A YEAR WITH AN OLD LOVER TURNED FRIEND that your partner knows about?
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