Ben & Jen's SECOND CHANCE

BEN AFFLECK'S DIVORCE FROM JENNIFER LOPEZ HAS PAVED THE WAY FOR HIM TO REUNITE WITH JENNIFER GARNER.

- 

IT’S a day parents both celebrate and dread. On Aug. 18, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner bid farewell to daughter Violet, dropping her off at Yale University to begin her freshman year of college. Before heading back to L.A., the proud parents treated their 18-year-old and middle child, Fin, 15, who joined them for the trip to the East Coast (son Samuel, 12, stayed home), to a goodbye meal at a restaurant near the Ivy League school’s New Haven, Conn., campus. “It was an emotional and exciting time for their family,” a source tells Star, adding that Ben and Jen, who nine years ago announced they were ending their decade-long marriage, are “so proud of Violet. The fact that she’s going to Yale is a testament to the love and time they’ve both poured into her upbringing.”

Two days later, a bombshell hit. After a summer of leading separate lives, Ben’s second wife, Jennifer Lopez, finally and officially ended their marriage when she pointedly filed divorce papers pro per, meaning by herself and without an attorney, on the second anniversary of their epic Georgia wedding. She cited April 26 as their separation date. Ben stepped out in L.A. the same day without his wedding ring, making it clear that like J.Lo, 55, he, too, is moving on. But according to the source, he’s not doing it alone. Ben and first wife Jen, both 52, “are secretly back together,” says the source. “It started months ago. Just look at how happy they looked in the Yale photos. They’ve gotten a second chance at love!”

DEVOTED EX