Columns

From the forums: I’m having serious issues with my future MIL. My fiancé and I are in the middle of wedding planning and my parents are paying for the entire thing (rehearsal dinner included), but FMIL threw a hissy fit saying she wanted to invite more guests, the food wasn’t right, etc. Well, that finally just ended after my mom threatened to not invite her or the family. And recently now, my fiancé cannot go to Christmas Eve with them because he is working late, and she threw a fit about that, blamed me, and is now having all the relatives call us saying how upset and disappointed they are. This has…

My roommate has been “dating” this guy for a few months and it’s driving me crazy. He constantly bosses her around and only uses her for sex. She abandons me on VERY IMPORTANT DATES for him. For example: We were moving out of our old apartment into our new one, I had reserved a U-haul, and then, despite my reminding her several times, she didn’t show up and I had to move most of the apartment by myself. In addition to my roommate constantly abandoning me for her boyfriend…He WETS HIS HAIR IN THE KITCHEN SINK! (I’m a nursing student who has worked in a clinic and I think that’s just disgusting!)…

In my small group of friends three of the gals have great jobs with lucrative careers. My other friend, Julie, and I are usually the ones struggling. Julie’s younger and just starting out and I have a mortgage and am a single mother who gets no financial support from my ex-husband. Our group of friends has always found a way to meet in the middle and enjoy our time together. A few months ago I began doing some consulting work on the side and my financial situation has improved drastically. I now have money to plan a vacation, buy concert tickets, and go out for nicer meals. For the most part though,…

Today’s column about the girlfriend who hadn’t bothered to box up her ex-husband’s belongings, including his wedding ring, before moving in her new boyfriend, wasn’t as bad as a column from a few years ago about the woman who found nude pictures of her fiancé’s ex-wife. Remember that one? (She then later mentioned in the comments that he admitted to having LOTS of nude pictures of multiple exes). And it got me thinking about the things we hang on to from relationships past. Nude pictures are one thing, but what about vacation photos, love letters, a favorite t-shirt, gifts, etc.? Are you a packrat who hangs on to everything? Or do you…

I moved in with my girlfriend months ago, but four years after her divorce, she still has a lot of her ex-husband’s things in her home and it makes me uncomfortable. His clothes are still here, wedding rings are still out in the open, and their pictures, though off the walls, are lying around everywhere. I got rid of all that kind of stuff from my marriage before deciding to date again, let alone move in with another person, and I figured this stuff of hers would have been long ago packed away and even then gone through when she asked me to move in. However, she has moved none of his…

“I’ve always loved children and since we since we never had any, I’ve always prioritized my nieces and nephews and figured I’d attend all their weddings… “

I am an independent 48-year-old female Ph.D, with a successful career, nice home and car, great children, and beautiful grandchildren. Although my life is blessed, I do have baggage. I am an alcoholic (currently sober) who was sexually abused as a child and sexually promiscuous as a teen. Relationship commitment has been problematic for me, and I have been married three times. It took me a long time to be comfortable and even happy being alone. Then two years ago I started dating a guy a year older than I who is really great: handsome, funny, loving, well-traveled and adventuresome. We hit it off right away, but a few months into the…