Dr Gladys McGarey thought she would never recover when her husband and work partner walked out after 46 years. Then she found her voice, happiness and her own direction
“It’s hard to put a size on things that happen in your life,” Gladys McGarey says. At 102, it’s understandable she would feel that way. Shortly before she was 70, her husband, Bill, to whom she had been married for 46 years, handed her divorce papers. He had been carrying them in his briefcase for six months and said he would appreciate a prompt signature.
McGarey and Bill had not only been married for decades but were also close colleagues. They were both doctors, who had trained as general practitioners, and were among the co-founders of the American Holistic Medical Association in 1978. For the duration of their marriage, they had shared a clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as having six children together. So, when the marriage ended – Bill had started a relationship with another colleague – McGarey lost not only her life partner but her business partner, too.
