The Gores Separate. Oh. My.

News outlets are reporting that former Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper are separating after 40 years of marriage. The official explanation is that they "grew apart."

While the part of me that adores all things Al is not exactly in mourning over this latest development, the rational part of me can't help but wonder: why now?

In my experience, long-time married couples tend to grow apart right around the 20 year mark, when their kids are teens and heading off to college, and they suddenly realize they don't have much to talk about anymore.

Forty years of marriage means going through so much together: births, deaths, health scares, family troubles, weddings, birthday milestones, successes, failures, children, grandchildren, etc.

I'm not exactly complaining that the object of my long-held adoration is suddenly making a new life for himself, but the timing seems really odd.

Yes, I want him to be happy, but if he takes up with some young thang like Kate Hudson or Megan Fox in the months to come, I'm selling my copy of An Inconvenient Truth on eBay.