Mom calls the shots in love life of her son

Dear Abby: My husband died 11 months ago, and I thought I was ready to date. I dated a guy I’ll call Ken for six months, but things went south because it felt weird. My question is, is it normal for a 57-year-old man to still be living with his mom?

Abby, Ken’s mom said bad things in front of me. She told her son that if he’s going to have sex with me, he might as well live with me. (We never had sex.) Another time she didn’t want me to wear shorts, hold Ken’s hand or even sit with him at their house. Why? Do I need help? — Young-ish Widow in Illinois

Dear Widow: A single man living with his mom is unusual, but not necessarily abnormal. Ken’s mother’s behavior, however, was not normal or acceptable. The extent to which this man’s mother controls his dating life is over the top.

Apparently, she perceives you as a threat, and she doesn’t want to “lose” her 57-year-old son. You don’t need help; SHE does. So does Ken, who appears to be her hostage.

Dear Abby: My friend and I are planning a road trip. We live in different parts of the country, so he’ll be flying to my city, where we will start the trip. We plan to split the cost of car rental, gas and hotels. However, I was assuming that he would pay his own airfare, and he was assuming that we would split it like everything else.

What’s normal in situations like this? I want to set the right precedent for future vacations. — Road Tripping in Iowa

Dear Road Tripping:

This is something you need to discuss further with your friend. There are no hardand-fast rules about this, and I think it depends upon your financial situations.