Hang in there — with hope

AND FINALLY

IT’S thrilling to hear from readers after a while — that is, when the news is good!

I am always touched if you bother to write with updates, especially if I can feel I might have helped in some small way. That is why ‘J’ has made my week.

She begins: ‘In 2013, I wrote and asked your advice about my deep disappointment in my son, who was seeing three women at the same time.’ Naturally, I looked up J’s problem (April 27): she had discovered that her son had three girlfriends on the go at once.

This deeply shocked and disappointed her — especially as ‘his father gave me much grief by behaving in precisely the same fashion’. J was feeling very worried, disappointed and ‘lost’.

I reassured her, stood up for the young man and ended with these words: ‘Lost? You have to rediscover your path, as the loving mother to a young man who will make many mistakes. How could you “let him go”? But maybe you have to learn to let him be.’

Now J writes happily: ‘He broke up with all three girlfriends and later met a lovely girl at a party. The two are now married with a seven-month-old baby.

‘My son is absolutely besotted with his little girl, and has even switched to freelance work so that he can stay at home as much as possible with his family.

‘What prompted me to write and thank you is a phone call I received from him last night: baby number two is on the way, and we are all rapt with joy! For some reason I thought of you immediately. Bel, thank you and fond regards.’

Even though I’m not sure what J is thanking me so sweetly for (I don’t think she would ever have broken with her beloved son because she disapproved of his sex life) I’m really grateful she shared this happy news. It makes me feel like a family member!

It also gives me the chance to repeat something I often say: ‘You never, ever know what will happen. So hang in there, with hope.’