Jeanne PhillipsDEAR ABBY: On July 13, you responded to someone asking whether friends should tell friends anonymously that their spouse is cheating. You advised that if someone is not willing to include their name, they should mind their own business.
One of my dear friends from church didn’t get a letter or a phone call during her marriage to her husband, who cheated on her constantly. What she did get was HIV-positive status, later full-blown AIDS and then death. Her husband was positive when she became pregnant, and her son was also born positive.
I believe that if someone knew and had told her, she might have been able to use protection. I’m sure she wouldn’t have minded the person not revealing his or her name as much as she minded being blindsided by her husband concealing his illness.
Personally, I’d want to know if I were living a daily life based on lies and deception. Had someone spoken up, perhaps my friend would still be alive. – MIMI IN CALIFORNIA
DEAR MIMI: Please accept my sympathy for the loss of your friend. And thank you for sharing your compelling story. Other readers responded to that letter with equal passion. Read on for a sample: