The statistics exist; one out of every two marriages will end in divorce. For a man in Florida, however, he was determined to remain out of the records book.

After a falling out with his wife, he sent her flowers, wrote her a letter asking for forgiveness and all of the other traditional methods to win a heart back. When none of these worked, he resorted to drastic measures. To make his point heard, he placed a $17,000 ad in the Jan. 25 edition of the Jacksonville Times-Union pleading with his wife to take him back.

The letter, pathetically sentimental, asked Marianne, his wife, to “give him a chance to prove his unending love for her.”

In desperation he closed his letter with a plea to his wife to “please, please, please call him.”

Lonesome Larry, as the Florida paper so lovingly named him, has yet to have a response from his wife.

If I found myself married to Larry, I would not respond either. Whatever he did to make his wife of 17 years leave him must have been terrible.

Although somewhat heartfelt and endearing, the ad sounded more like an adult asking for forgiveness, rather than a doting husband apologizing for leaving the toilet seat up.

No one knows Larry’s last name, his age, or his occupation. This mystery surrounding Lonesome Larry has made this letter even more infamous.

Since Larry has yet to hear from Marianne, I wonder if he regrets spending the $17,000. With that money he could have bought 1625 copies of Men are from Mars, Women are Venus from amazon.com, 34 sessions of therapy at $500 a pop, or 19 first class Delta airlines tickets to Chicago to ask Oprah herself for marriage advice.

Even though he wasted three years worth of tuition to a state school to declare his love, you have to hand to ole Larry. He must really love his wife. To lay himself out there like that in front of millions of people shows that he seriously wants to win Marriane back.

Maybe he should have resorted to a more long-lasting fix, rather than his quick spur of the moment plan to fix his broken marriage. Maybe he should move on and find a knew love that will appreciate his tacky, cheesy measures of courtship. Maybe he can call Mark Burnett and receive his own reality television show. He might even try investing another $17,000 into some therapy to help figure out why he did what he did. Maybe he should give Marianne some time instead of broadcasting their problems in public.

As for Marianne, she must be completely embarrassed; I would be. Already heartbroken, Larry made it even harder for her to get over her marriage by making their marriage the water cooler talk of every office in America. The whole world is waiting in anticipation for the results of the Marianne and Larry saga.

Will the true identity of Larry every be revealed? What did he do? How could he possibly afford to spend all that money? Along with the rest of the world, I am anxious to know the outcome.

Despite that Larry did not want to go down in the records book, he already has. It is not quite official, but I can say without a doubt that he has set the record for the most desperate estranged husband ever.