Karl Pillemer

Professor of Psychology and of Gerontology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine

Karl Pillemer, professor of human development at Cornell University, is the author of “Fault Lines: Fractured Families and How to Mend Them,” and one of America’s leading family sociologists.

Pillemer says:

“Estrangements rarely have a single cause. Rodgers himself described it as ‘death by a thousand cuts,’ rooted in childhood and accumulated over decades. The rift became public in a painful and very visible way, and for years there seemed to be no path forward. Yet after more than ten years, reconciliation happened, and that is genuinely hopeful. 

“My research shows that people can and do reconcile after very long estrangements, sometimes surprising even themselves. One factor that likely played a role here is a life transition. Rodgers is almost certainly in his final NFL season, and my work finds that major life transitions like retirement, illness, or the death of a loved one have a powerful way of making family feel more urgent and more precious, prompting people to act on feelings they have long suppressed. For families who feel hopelessly stuck, the Rodgers story is a reminder that it is rarely too late, and that the first step is simply being willing to try.”