Leaving Dinah Shore was such a stupid move!

I know I'm not in his life, and that a lot of you will want to come back at me saying that it's not my business, but let's get real – I'm not doing anything any different than the celebrity magazines don't already do – that is – give my opinion on the matters of a public figure.

So, here's my opinion – he shouldn't have left Dinah Shore! I understand maybe marriage is important to him, and I do wonder why she wouldn't marry him. But then I also sort of understand where she might've been coming from: she had been there/done that before, twice, both ending in divorce, she is a public figure – so any scandal or drama plays out in the tabloids whenever anybody breaks up from a marriage, and she probably thought that given their age difference, it would be easier not to take a chance on breaking up and making a big scandal of it if they never got married.

Now, I'm not saying they would've ended up staying together all their lives (cause according to a friend, Dinah revealed she didn't "want to grow old in his arms"). But, that was certainly a possibility. And he threw it away. Yet, it's not the fact that they split that I feel was the biggest mistake---it's the reasoning behind the split that I think was wrong on so many levels.

Burt left someone he loved dearly, for the sake of someone who didn't even exist yet. I still can't wrap my head around why anyone would do that. And yet, a lot of people do – that is to say, they leave spouses because both spouses don't want kids. But, I think that urge is backwards. People should contemplate children because of the love they have for their spouse, not wanting a spouse so that they can have children. The spouse was first in the equation, after all.

And if a person is willing to leave a romantic love on the basis of whether or not they will or won't adopt a kid or whatever, it makes it seem like that love must not have mattered. In the case of Burt Reynolds though, it isn't anything against Dinah Shore particularly, since he would've left anyone who wasn't willing to have kids with him – that's how much he wanted kids. But that is what I'm saying is the grave error on his part.

Notably though, she remained his friend all those years. And even more notably, she is perhaps the only woman he has ever constantly said nice things about and never spoke of negatively. He clearly has enormous respect for her, even to this day, years after her passing. And to me, that means the basis of a wonderful relationship – when you can look at somebody without flinching, and know with all certainty that you love and respect this person. It's clear to me when Burt talks about Dinah, that he loved and respected her in a very powerful way.

So, was it true love? Was the feeling mutual? I often wonder, since she wouldn't marry him. But that's why I say that their relationship was a friends-with-benefits kind of deal, with stronger feelings involved. And so what? It was beautiful, for what it was. And what made it so beautiful? There was no bitterness involved and the relationship never soured. Even in their breakup, there was tears not because of any kind of resentment, but because of love.

Therefore can't we conclude that he made a big mistake leaving her?

Was it really worth it to leave someone he had the utmost respect for, just for the sake of a marriage paper and a kid that didn't even exist at the time?! Again, I'm not saying they would have remained a couple---perhaps they made better friends than spouses, but it does seem he left her for the wrong reasons---especially if she was as wonderful a companion as he makes her out to be!

To this day, he refers to Dinah as "the best friend I ever had". And I think the reason he refers to her as a friend rather than a lover is because he knows that when it comes down to it, he values friendship more than romantic love. And, in that regard, she was the best. Lucky for him, Dinah didn't seem to mind that. But I mind it for her.

It was stupid of him to leave her for the reasons that he did. Granted, he wouldn't have his son now, had he not done that. But, look at it this way – he was going to lose someone either way. I just can't get over the fact that he chose to lose her---not if she was as great as he says she was! Cause that kind of romance is so rare, it should never be thrown away!

Oh well... at least they kept their friendship.

Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!