Referring back to the post that said John was a grumpy old man, first you have to realize that Elaine is much younger than John and maybe she should have thought about that before she married him.  With John just turning 59 and going on tour, I had the pleasure of seeing him in Kansas City and absolutely loved the show, he talked more to the audience like I had never seen him do much before. If you listen to the lyrics in "Clumsy Old World" you can tell that there are problems, and "dont forget about me", is one of my favorites.  So, I suggest you listen to the CD if you dont have it.  As far as his family goes, I think he was talking about his extended family as well, like a brother he mentions in a song that he hasnt seen in 6-7 years.  So before you go calling him a grumpy old man, there are 2 sides to the story.  John is a Libra, they are perfectionists, and if you think thats grumpy, then you need to focus your negative comments about him somewhere else.  No matter what happens, as I do not know John personally, I will always give him my support, hes the only artist I believe in and have for 30 years now. 

Everyone has a different way of dealing with things and maybe for John to joke about it, well, that is his way of getting through it. Although, I am a little confused on your words WILDNIGHT......you say you still like Mellencamp and wish them all the best but you have said some mean things in your post. Why isn't he a role model? And you refer to him as a grumpy old man who is waiting to die??? For real??  That is what you see??? If this split didn't happen, did you feel like this before, like Elaine deserved something better??  Wow, we all perceive things differently I guess. I disagree whole heartedly, right down to saying he is a strange individual.