Divorce is like...

One of my close friends just got divorced from one of my relatives, and it has been a very good thing for her. I am very happy for her, and hope that it stays a good thing for her, but from my past experience, and the experience of many of my friends and family, it isn't always a completely happy event. There is/could be a mourning period much like one feels with a death.
I have come up with some analogies (with the input of people over the years) that are perhaps a little vulgar and harsh, but many of them comes pretty close. (Most of these come from people who have gotten divorced after an abusive marriage)
Divorce is like giving birth to a stillborn child. You spend months (years) nurturing another person, sacrificing your own happiness at times, for the sake of that other life, giving up things you used to be able to do because you have to consider how it will affect "it". There are moments of pain and discomfort, but you don't complain, because you love "it", and you are willing to put up with the pain for the sake of "it". As the time passes, the pain gets more intense, and more frequent, but still, you hold on, because "it will all be worth it". "It" may kick, stretch, even be toxic to you, causing you to be bedridden or hospitalized, but you love "it" and you are determined to "carry it" as long as possible. Then one day, you find out this "child" you have nurtured, carried, loved and nearly died for is gone. Not only do you not have "it" (marriage/love), but you still have to go through the pain of delivery (mediation), funeral (court), and then all the firsts (first night, week, month, year, family gathering, holiday without "it")
Divorce is like pouring two kinds of liquid into a glass, then deciding you want to seperate them. No matter how you try, there is no way for either of you to ever come away with the exact amount, or even the exact type of liquid you put in. A small part of each other's liquid will go with each of you.
When you get married, you sew your lives together, one stitch at a time. As time goes by, some of those stitches wear out, and get loose, and if you don't repair them, the marriage can fall apart. Sometimes the marriage is so volatile that the two people are ripped apart, leaving bleeding holes where the thread used to hold them together. If a marriage has to end, the most healthy way to do it, is to gently pull the threads out, with the help of a professional. There will still be scars, but you will heal a lot faster.