Friend must decide for herself on annulment from new husband
Dear Abby: My heart is breaking for my friend who was married just a month and a half ago. She and her husband went on a two-week Mediterranean cruise for their honeymoon. They have not lived together since then. Her husband says he loves her, and I know she loves him, but he has no immediate plans to live with her! She is heartbroken and is planning an annulment. What advice do you have? — Thrown in Maryland
Dear Thrown: I wish you had shared a few more details about their situation. I’m surprised your friend wasn’t aware of her husband’s feelings before she married him.
However, as sympathetic as you are about her situation, my advice is to be there for her but refrain from giving her advice. She will have to figure this out for herself. If what her husband has in mind was a surprise and is unacceptable to her, she is doing the right thing.
My husband is constantly grabbing me, either my breasts or my crotch. It’s day and night. We have been married almost 40 years, and I am sick of it.
If I say something, he says, “Oh, I bet the guys you work with would love to be touching you!” Not once have my co-workers ever implied such a thing. How can I make him understand I hate this? — Groped Out West
Dear Groped: Your husband may consider what he is doing as foreplay or regard you not as a person but his property. Touching someone in this manner without consent could be considered sexual abuse. His comment about your male co-workers may be a backhanded compliment, but why you are sick of hearing it is understandable.
If he doesn’t understand after 40 years that you dislike what he is doing, it’s because he doesn’t want to, and your feelings are unimportant to him.
A marriage counselor may be able to help you get through to him.
Dear Abby: I am 59 years old with a good job. I have a pleasant personality and have been told I am attractive. I would love to find someone who would be a very good friend or maybe even a love connection.
The problem is, I wear partials because some of my teeth are missing. I’m afraid if I tell a man I have them, he won’t regard me as attractive. Please advise me because this is holding me back on trying to have a relationship. — Ready for Something in D.C.
Dear Ready: If all that’s holding you back from finding a partner is embarrassment about your dentures, contact a dentist and ask if there are other options, such as implants, that might be a solution. If not, keep in mind that if you are dating the right man, he shouldn’t have as much a problem with your teeth as you fear.