Cindy Sheehan's Husband Files for Divorce

Although Patrick Sheehan filed for divorce a week after Cindy Sheehan set up her tent near President Bush's Texas ranch, she states that she and her husband were already separated due to the stress from the death of their son, Specialist Casey Sheehan, who died in an ambush at Sadr City, Iraq in 2004.

Patrick and Cindy Sheehan met in high school and have been married for 28 years. The divorce petition citing "irreconcilable differencs" was filed at Solano County court on August 12, 2005.

Some of the media reports about the Sheehan divorce have implied that divorce after the death of a child is common. This isn't true. The marriages of couples who lose a child are not destined to fall apart. Read the statistics

"Overall, 72% of parents who were married at the time of their child’s death are still married to the same person. The remaining 28% of marriages include 16% in which one spouse had died, and only 12% of marriages that ended in divorce... Furthermore, even among the 12% of parents whose marriages ended in divorce, only one out of four of them felt that the impact of the death of their child contributed to their divorce." Source: "When a Child Dies"

It is important for a couple to communicate honestly with each other about their feelings and thoughts while they cope with their grief. Hopefully, Cindy and Patrick Sheehan will be able to focus on one another and their other son, and save their marriage. Read more about the issues grieving parents face...