Jeanne PhillipsDEAR ABBY: A year ago, after five years of marriage, I divorced my ex-husband, "Taylor." We agreed to separate because I believed I had fallen out of love with him. We have remained friendly and communicate often.
Since the divorce, I have struggled with feelings of guilt and the creeping suspicion that I have made a mistake. I think I am still in love with him. Taylor desperately wants us to get remarried, and lately I have been considering it. However, I have another issue to consider.
For the past few months, I have been seeing another man, "Jacob." Although he is sweet and affectionate, Jacob is needy, clingy and struggles with depression and anxiety. He often expresses suicidal thoughts over problems in his life, including the thought of me leaving him. He is in therapy, but it doesn't seem to be helping.
I am terrified of breaking up with him to reconcile with my ex-husband because I honestly believe Jacob would kill himself, and I could not live with that. Any advice would be appreciated. - IN A HARD SPOT IN ALABAMA
DEAR HARD SPOT: Jacob is in therapy. Write a letter to his therapist and explain your concerns. That way the therapist will understand in advance that his/her patient may be heading for a rough patch. Regardless of whether Jacob is serious about killing himself should you end the relationship, for your own sake, you must not allow yourself to become a prisoner of his illness. That dynamic is unhealthy for you.
I must caution you, however, not to allow yourself to be pressured into reconciling with your ex unless both of you have premarital counseling so you won't fall back into the pattern that destroyed your marriage. Whether it was lack of communication, boredom, a dull sex life - you both must understand where it went off track and take steps to correct it before remarrying.
DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are close friends with another couple we love dearly. Lately the wife has been concerned about her husband's continued weight gain. She makes comments when we are all out to dinner about what he wants to order and insists they share a meal or that he choose something lighter. I think it's pushing him to want to eat more. How can we as friends help them to overcome this? - BEST FRIENDS IN TEXAS
DEAR FRIENDS: What your friend's wife doesn't realize is that the motivation for him to deal with his weight problem has to come from him, not her.
Rather than second guess what he's eating when you are all out to dinner, she should encourage him to talk with his doctor and a nutritionist about what he needs to do to get healthy. Please tell her that. It won't happen overnight, and she should expect him to fall off the wagon sometimes. But with determination, it can be done.
DEAR READERS: Well, 2018 is on the brink of being over! Out with the old, in with the new. Please accept my heartfelt good wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2019. And, as I caution every year, if you are out partying to ring in the new year, please make appropriate transportation arrangements and be safe! - LOVE, ABBY
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
Good advice for everyone - teens to seniors - is in "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)