Sunday News (Zimbabwe)

My girlfriend is HIV-positive

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I HAVE been friends with this girl for years and we have dated different people but now I think she wants to be in a relationsh­ip with me and her friend has confirmed this. But I am afraid that if we break up our friendship will be dead. Reply When you look back on life, the things you regret the most are the things you haven’t done, rather than the things that you have. If you are attracted to her and she feels the same way, do you want to miss out on the opportunit­y to have a lovely relationsh­ip? Some start with instant sexual attraction, but often the relationsh­ips that are more likely to endure begin when you are great friends — as well as being attracted to each other. The friendship helps you to survive the inevitable ups and downs of a relationsh­ip. Of course, there is always a risk. When you fall in love, you become vulnerable, but she might turn out to be the girl who you want to spend the rest of your life with. Imagine how you would feel if she started going out with someone else and you realised — too late — what you were missing.

I just found out my girlfriend is HIV-positive. I can’t believe she didn’t tell me. I confronted her about this and she said she didn’t tell me because she feared that I could dump her. She confessed that she has been on ARVs for three years now. Send your sms to 0773111328 or 0772115830 or write to Sis Noe, Sunday News, Box 585, Bulawayo. You can also follow Sis Noe on http://sisnoe. blogspot.com

I am 20 and I have feelings for a workmate who is 40. We have both admitted that we are attracted to each other and have a connection. He is married to a woman 15 years younger than him. We both want to cross the line, but are not sure how to do it as we know it would be wrong. Whenever we work together there is a spark. Reply He is obviously into much younger women! I suspect that he would like an affair, but he probably has no intention of leaving his wife. If you did have an affair, you would get hurt when he eventually ends the relationsh­ip or his wife finds out about it. As you work together, your other colleagues would soon discover the truth — the couple involved are usually the last ones to realise this. If it ends badly, it would also be difficult to work together and you would have to find another job. Think ahead a little. In 20 years, when you are 40, would you want to be with a 60-year-old man? It will hurt less if you accept that he is probably pursuing you because he wants the fun of a sexual relationsh­ip and not necessaril­y because he has fallen in love with you. He should not be tempting you so don’t take this further. You have lots of time to meet someone else. You should also consider how his wife would feel if she found out about it.

I WhatsApped this guy and told him that I like him but he did not respond. I then told him that if he does not like me he can just say so. Instead of responding he blocked me. Was I too forward? Reply He responded by blocking you — in short he does not like you. Unfortunat­ely, this is a case of coming on far too strong, far too early. I am sure you now realise that getting angry was not a good move. Next time you meet someone you like, go slowly and be friendly and chatty — don’t dive in and ask them right away if they have romantic intentions.

My boyfriend of one year is good to me and he says he loves me but he keeps talking to his ex-girlfriend­s. Two of them are beautiful and I think that they are still interested in being with him. He thinks that I am being unreasonab­le and unnecessar­ily jealous. Reply This is difficult. If you think that they are still interested in him, then of course you see them as a threat. However, relationsh­ips are built on trust and you need to trust him, not them. He is a man, there will always be beautiful women who fancy him and you can’t control this. But if he says that he loves you and genuinely seems to feel this way, then you need to try to believe him. His relationsh­ip track record is a good indicator of his reliabilit­y. Has he had good long-term relationsh­ips or only short ones? Did he always end them? I also wonder if your self-esteem is low as you are comparing yourself to his exes. Perhaps you need to work on your self-confidence and believe it when he says that he loves you. You can’t ask him to stop seeing them, but he also needs to understand that it is hard for you and he should be sensitive to this.

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