Cuba Gooding Jr. and his wife are divorcing after being together for over 20 years

We never like to hear news like this, but it looks like 2017 is off to a rough romantic start. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. and his wife are divorcing, and since they’ve been together for so long, we really hoped they’d be able to make it work.

Gooding and his wife, Sara Kapfer, got married back in 1994. While the two were legally separated for a few years, the news is still a bit shocking.

Kapfer and Gooding, who started dating way back in high school, have three children together — Spencer, Mason, and Piper. It’s been said that they were dating for seven whole years before tying the knot, so obviously they’ve been in each other’s lives for quite a long time.

Kapfer, who reportedly works as a teacher, filed for legal separation back in 2014, saying that the two were having irreconcilable differences.

Gooding has kept quiet about the news for now, but he has opened up about his marriage in the past — primarily, how to keep a relationship going after children, work, and life obligations get in the way.

"Things happen, you grow up … I took my wife on a date the other day. Took her to see a movie the other day. Yeah. We got kids, man. We got to keep this together, strong, you know? That’s how I see it," he said just last year on 'The Steve Harvey Show'

The two were spotted looking happy together just a few days ago at the Golden Globes, and their smiles give us hope that this will be a collaborative transition.

While their romantic connection is gone, and while we don’t know what truly happened between the two (nor should we!) we do hope they find some peace and understanding during this stressful time.