Dear Abby: My friends verbally abusive ex-husband is pressuring her to live with him
DEAR ABBY: I have a friend, “Maron,” who is 65 and divorced from her husband, who had been extremely verbally abusive.Her adult son has a daughter by a former partner who had no interest in the girl.
The girl, “Lizzie,” is living with her father (Maron’s son) in his father’s home.Maron has taken an active interest in her grandchild and spends a lot of time with her.Maron drives Lizzie to preschool even though it is an hour away from her and only a few minutes from her ex-husband’s home.Recently, Maron’s ex has been pressuring her to move back in with him.
He says Lizzie needs a consistent female presence.However, he also accuses her of being selfish, thus perpetuating his verbal abuse.
What should she do? — IN THE MIDDLE IN WASHINGTONDEAR IN THE MIDDLE: Unless Maron wants to escape the fire only to jump back into the frying pan, she should maintain her separate residence.Because her ex’s verbal abuse was so bad she left the marriage, she should not allow herself to be guilted into allowing more of it.DEAR ABBY: My husband of 50 years sits in his chair for hours at a time making online purchases he thinks are a necessity or just plain intriguing.
We get two or three packages a day, which usually consist of “Buy two and get a third one free” — fruit corers, citrus squeezers, air fresheners, car-washing supplies, cellphone holders, etc.What’s frustrating is that we already have the perfectly functional items he’s purchased.Most of the time they get pushed aside and not used.
He also buys food items that are on a repeat subscription, filling our pantry with so much overflow that we must throw away perfectly good food to make room for the newest items.These purchases go on his credit card and amount to more than $2,000 per month.My career supported us financially, so my husband didn’t have to work, but he was busy with the family in many other ways.
Now that I’m retired and no longer have an income, I look at the financial drain hi...