Kim and Barry Plath are adjusting to a new normal after announcing they were ending their 24-year marriage.
On Tuesday’s episode of Welcome to Plathville, the former couple reflected on their decision to divorce and how they are moving forward independently.
“Divorce has been hard,” Kim admitted. “You know, for 25 years, Barry handled all of the logistics of the household: the budget, the income, making sure all the bills got paid. And I did basically the parenting.”
She added, “Now that we’re separate, we’re both having to fill both roles. It’s scary, it’s overwhelming, there’s days I wanna just buy a sailboat and go off and, you know, send a postcard once a year.”
For his part, Barry was mourning the end of their relationship, sharing, “25 years of marriage and then all of a sudden it’s gone. That’s been, [I’d say] that’s one of the biggest challenges of my life to get through.”
“There were times where I was like, oh, depression is ahead if I go there, but all the children have been very supportive,” he continued. “They’ve helped me get to this point where I’m stable and moving forward.”
Barry, who is living in the family home with the children while Kim lives in an apartment above her dance studio, admitted that “a lot has changed” in his life including finding independence from Kim.
“We are transforming quickly in the Plath family with relationships and new locations and new perspectives,” he said. “Kim’s off on her own, I’m here. I don’t see her much. I talk to her more over the phone or via text than I do seeing her. We’re settling into our separate lives, but we’re always tied together by the children.”
Kim shared that divorce is “all new” for her, adding, “I’ve never been divorced before, I’ve never co-parented before. It’s scary thinking about the uncertainty of am I gonna be single for the rest of my life? What if I never find somebody? I could be alone forever, you know, and that’s not pleasant either, but it’s a chance that I’m taking.”
Kim shared that she knew she needed to make a change in her life because “there’s nothing more lonely than being with someone that makes you feel lonely.”
“I knew that in pursuing this divorce, I was risking losing friends, the respect of the conservative Christian community, trust of my children…I was so unhappy in the marriage that it was worth losing those things for the possibility of a happier future,” she continued.
Despite moving on with their lives, Kim and Barry proved that they are putting their family first when they came together for Micah and Moriah’s visit.
“There’s still times where it’s awkward to be around Barry and definitely times where I prefer not to be around him,” Kim shared. “But in the context of, we’re gathering with Micah and Moriah or we’re gathering with the children, we’re cordial, we can speak, I mean it’s fine.”
“If there’s anything simmering behind the scenes we just keep a lid on that just for the children’s sake, you know, we get along and have an enjoyable time,” Barry added.
Welcome to Plathville airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
