Margo, there are way too many people that lack good sense or good judgement. I know some very intelligent people that are book smart and common sense dumb. I guess some are blessed with both. I read your advice weekly and I can’t help but think where do these people come from.  I used to watch daytime talk shows till it got to where most are the "who’s your father ?" or the women who want to know if their boyfriends are cheating.  Most of your advice is great, I would have had to tell a few to get a life and figure it out.  But I have never claimed to be a patient person.  :-)

Lym,

I am not happily married to my first husband, I was totally happy with him til 2004 when he died of his 12th heart attack. I am now happily married to my second husband, till he or I die. He has been divorced and I have not nor will I ever. when you say "I do" it is for life, his or your’s.  I told both husbands the same thing, I will not get divorced so if you want out, die or kill me, I don’t care which, but I will never sign divorce papers.  I have been very fortunate to have loving, spontaneous husbands. They love me, but sometimes I wonder why.  My husband chased me for two years before I finally agreed to marry him. We talk about everything and anything. If he went off the deepend with a fantasy I would tell him NO, and if he kept pestering me, I would have to smack some sense into him.  Haha.  

My younger sister has been married to the same man for 22 years. My bestest friend has only been with her husband, never even dated anyone else, they met in grade school, dated in high school married at 18 her 17 him. she is now 48 with 2 grown sons and a teenager.  Love and marriage can last if you work at it.

E,

I found this with a quick google search, these are what we use on our cots for work. it is great for those that are bigger than what normal seat belts can hold. This would be a good idea for the lady that refuses to use her own car.

http://store.moreofmetolove.com/travel/seat-belt-extenders/car-seatbelt-…

Margo,

I am not sure exactly what the hoopla is about with Lettermen.  He cheated on his wife and apologized, that should put an end to the subject.  I have a similar situation. I work in the Funeral Home business and the only people I meet are deceased or "stuffed shirt" directors.  Since I do a lot of traveling for work, I tend to meet truck drivers. I am probably more open minded than most women, as I joke around about sexual topics with my boss and coworkers. Heck it is a good way to get around the solemness of the funeral business. 

As for the blackmailer, who is to say that once paid she will not "spill the beans" anyway. You hear a lot about celebrities and indescretion. I say who cares, they are human and humans are famous for making mistakes.  Those who are without fault cast the first stone. In other words nobody other than Jesus was perfect.  I was raised that once an apology was given and you were forgiven the subject is CLOSED. 

Funny Girl,

I have to wholeheartedly agree with you. my youngest son is deathly allergic to sugar & honey. This is VERY RARE. I could not see the schools banning these items which could have killed my son. I taught him and his siblings to stay away from them. It was  a major pain raising 9 kids and 8 can eat just about anything they wanted, but he had to stay away from most of the things others ate. No sweets, no breads, no sloopy joes (his favorite, which is tweaked the recipe & spices to avoid sugars). You ever check the ingerdients on labels, there is very few things that do not contain sugars.  Since his birthday is in August we lucked out and had watermelon for his "birthday cake".  

For those kids that can eat peanuts/PB&J I see no problem in bringing their own lunches.  By the time kids are 6 yrs old they should have been taught to leave other people’s things alone unless they ask permission. If a child with allergies eats another child’s lunch then it is their own fault if they get sick and their parents should have taught them better.

LW#1, first off the one statement that cought my attnetion was "They say he’s riding my coattails and taking advantage of me, and that once we’ve been cohabiting long enough, he’s going to take half of what I have."  Since you signed your letter "head over heels in Phoenix"  I should mention that AZ is one of the few states that isn’t a common law state, which means that even if you cohabitate forever, he is entitled to NOTHING you have. When/IF you two marry then he can get half if the marriage doesn’t last. With that said, you know the man much better than your parents and you have to go by your gut instincts. If you see that he is a hard working loving man, that wants to higher his education when possible for him, then keep him, hard working loving men are the "gems". Your parents need to give you a chance to live, love & learn. I know that it is hard for parents to let their children make mistakes especially if it is the same ones they made themselves. Good luck and wishing you many years of happiness.

LW#2, I work in a more relaxed office setting than most of the world. We have one rule, if you must talk about your kids, grands, family keep it to the minimum, Work must come first. If there must be personal calls, use your cell phone and not tie up the office lines. I usually take my personal calls outside of the office, smoke breaks are good for personal calls.  I have issues with my boss at times he has the volume full blast on all the phones, including his cell so I can hear both sides of the conversation all the time. He is a new dad and there are things that dad needs to know, so wife calls a lot during the day (thankfully only during the summer months as she is a teacher so during school she doesn’t call much). 

#1 she should just smack him and call the boss and tell her she can have hime since she already does. May as well take all of him, dirty clothes, cooking, cleaning, his emotional baggage, basically ALL OF HIM.

#2 I was widowed at 42, over weight and felt ugly. It was 20 years since I had to meet people. I found a job I love and it gets me out in public every day. I met my current husband 2 years ago. Believe me the last thing I wanted was a husband, but we married last April. I am happy and no longer look at myself as overweight (although I still am, that is still taking a lot of work) & ugly. I finally got to the point of telling people "I am fine as wine and cuter than a speckled puppy in a little red wagon", and I have a $1,000,000 smile. There is much more to life than spending it with someone that refuses to have a physical relationship with you.  Shoot I did not fully enjoy the advantages of being over 40 till this past year. There are many men that like older women, and the sex, let me tell you it is like wine, better with age. Good luck making the changes that need to be made.