Dream wedding won’t happen

Dear Readers: I’ve stepped away from my desk for a few days; I hope you’ll enjoy these “Best Of” columns in my absence.

Dear Amy: I am a 30-year-old woman who has been planning her dream wedding for as long as I can remember. I have also always wanted to be a mom.

My boyfriend of seven years does not want to ever get married or have children. He is 32 and happy with the way things are. We own a home together and are financially secure.

All of my friends are getting married and I am not getting any younger.

Should I stay with my boyfriend, hoping he will change his mind, or should I pack my bags and leave?

— Desperate to be a Bride

Dear Desperate: First, I think you should ask yourself why you have cast your lot with someone who doesn’t want any of the same things you want. Having a house in common isn’t much to go on, in terms of sharing your basic values. People don’t usually change their views over something so fundamental as marriage and children, so your staying with him just seems delusional.

Cash out your share of this property, pack your bags and go. As you say, you’re not getting any younger. (April 2005)

Dear Amy: I have a question about a guy. We met once and I liked him. He was for real and exactly as he appeared online.

A health condition put him into a fragile situation. He is abroad getting therapy and is under a doctor’s care.

The problem is, how long should I wait for him? We communicate through emails, pictures and videos. He claims he doesn’t like to talk on the phone.

I would like to talk on the phone. I am getting discouraged waiting for him.

It has been a year of computer communication and I am getting tired of it.

— Computer Challenged

Dear Challenged: I hate to break this to you, but your guy could be living around the corner and married. He could be maintaining similar fiction with many women.

He could be an online predator or a sock puppet.(April 2005)