Disclaimer: All facts gleaned from the filings stated hereafter are only as truthful as the petitioner. The tone of this article expresses a style of writing historically employed by America’s greatest writers and, as such, is for opinion purposes only. No intentional harm is due. Do not read if the topic of divorce (even your own) causes you emotional distress. Continue at your own risk.
January carries its own weather. The year is young, the air brisk with promises people are still deciding whether to keep. Into that moment came the petition dissolving the marriage of Janet McKay Godshaw and Donald Godshaw, filed January 7, 2026, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. It did not arrive like a hurried parcel shoved into the last mail slot of December. Filings made between December 28 and 31 often sound like exhaustion—an urge to bury the old year with all its disappointments. This one belonged to a different rhythm: steady, deliberate, and unafraid of the open road ahead.
Janet, 67, a resident of Wilmette, and Donald, 74, were married in Evanston in October 1985. Their union produced three children, now grown, with lives of their own—Sarah, Reid, and Robb—long past the age of custody schedules and school-night compromises. What remained, after nearly four decades, was a marriage worn thin by irreconcilable differences, with reconciliation acknowledged as neither practical nor kind.
Represented by attorney Elaine H. Knowles of Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP, Janet asked the court for a clean and respectful conclusion. The petition seeks a judgment dissolving the marriage and incorporating, by reference, the parties’ Marital Settlement Agreement executed January 2, 2026. That agreement reflects a prior postnuptial arrangement from October 2023 and resolves all matters of asset allocation, support, and financial affairs. Beyond that, Janet requests any further relief the court deems equitable and just.
This January filing does not sound like regret rushing the clock. It reads like acceptance—measured, seasoned, and honest—an ending written not to outrun time, but to meet it squarely.
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