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My husband, “Bob,” and I have been married for twenty-four years. He is ten years younger than I am. I am a beautiful woman, so I guess I don’t understand why he flirts with other women. He has this smirk thing that he does. What the heck does it mean? We rent a beach house every year with my brother and sister-in-law, and she comes over with food and drinks and takes over the place like she has something to prove. Here’s the thing: she is a pain. Her husband is finally treating her better than he used to partly because of my teaching him how. But she has been flirting with…

I am 28 have been dating my boyfriend, “Derek,” 38, for a little over three years now. We are probably going to move in together at the end of the summer. While I love him, I have been dragging my feet on moving in together, which I originally thought was just nerves on taking such a big step. My friends and family love Derek and think we’re a great match. He is thoughtful, responsible, and understanding, and we agree on all the important issues. We travel well together and enjoy a lot of the same hobbies. I really have no problems with him or our relationship outside of minor domestic things, and…

Guess what today is?! It’s Lurker Introduction Day (Take 6), a day when lurkers on this website are invited to come out of hiding and show themselves. It’s also a day I totally made up. But, look, I know what it’s like. I’ve been before, and am, a lurker on different sites. You read along for weeks or maybe months (maybe even years??) without ever having an intention to NOT participate — it just sort of happens that way. You might have things to say in the comments, but they’ve already been said a dozen or so other ways by other people — people who comment all the time. Or, maybe you’re…

New readers, welcome to Dear Wendy, a relationship advice blog. Read some of the most popular Dear Wendy posts here. If you don’t find the info you need in this column, please visit the Dear Wendy archives or the forums (you can even start your own thread), do a search in the search bar, or submit a question for advice at wendy(AT)dearwendy.com. Long time lurker, first time writer here. I have been with my boyfriend “Mark” for one year, and we have a great time together. We have talked about wanting to have a relationship that progresses towards marriage, but we aren’t in a rush to do so immediately. He is 35,…

My girlfriend and I have hit a rough patch. Nearly two years ago she moved away for a teacher’s-aid-exchange-sort-of-program. She was only supposed to stay for the summer, but more than a year later she still hadn’t come back. At first it hurt on a very simple level that she wasn’t returning – I missed her. But as the months passed and the timeline for her coming back was continuously pushed back until eventually it became simply “I don’t know,” it started to hurt a lot more. I know she very much enjoys it in the smaller town she’s living in, but it nonetheless started to hurt on a personal level –…

My 2 1/2-year relationship with “Dan” ended about a month ago, we’ve had no contact since then, and I have no desire to get back together with Dan. My situation is a little odd, but I’ll try to keep it short: The entire time we were together, I was completely honest and vulnerable, fell in love gradually, and was very committed to a future together while Dan seemed to be very open and invested in the first one-and-a-half years we were together. I considered him my closest friend and soulmate. Then, he suddenly started ignoring me and treating me borderline cruelly for the last year or so. He also started isolating himself…

My wife and I have been married since 2009. I believe our relationship was amazing then. We are older and she wanted kids with me, so tubes were reversed and she was pregnant three times. She had one miscarriage and we have two amazing and healthy children. Life became busy. I did online chatting a little. I know I was wrong. Ever since then — the kids and the chatting — we have not been the same. We have separated and gotten back together three times. We are recently together again. Every time we were apart I was with other women, which I consider a form of cheating. This last time she,…

Recently, I found out that my best friend, “Kate,” (she’s more like my sister) has been sneaking around behind my back with my ex-boyfriend and lying to me about who she’s with. I’ve been like family with her for about three years now. To backtrack a little, I met this guy, “Rob,” at college about six months ago and instantly had a connection and attraction to him. It’s not hard for me to attract a guy, but it’s hard for me to find a guy I’m really into. We had been on and off, though my feelings for him never wavered. Kate knew how much I felt for him. She even told…

My boyfriend and I are in a terrible relationship (he’s emotionally abusive and unsupportive), but due to my own lack of finances, I am unable to leave him. We each pay 50% of the bills, but when we set up this arrangement, we were both graduate students each making 31K a year. For health reasons, I had to take a leave of absence from school, which means I lost my funding and am no longer generating income. Currently, I’m unemployed and my bank account is being depleted quickly while I’m seeking treatment so I can hopefully return to school in the fall. All that said, I feel like I’m trapped in this…

I have been with my boyfriend for over two years. I know the entire time we have dated he’s been cruising Craigslist and gives his first name and phone number to women seeking a causal encounter (red flag). I choose to ignore this behavior because it seems like the women never follow through with his requests. I monitor his phone and his Internet, email, and Facebook accounts daily. Recently, he accidentally included me on a selfie text he sent to another number. I found out it was a woman who works at the same company he works at but on a different shift. I further found out that she is married with…