One Guy Who Should Not Marry

He wrote in to Dear Abby.

SENSITIVE GUY, MILWAUKEE wrote:

(First of all, you know there is a problem if he signed his letter that way.)

I am a 24-year-old male who has been in a relationship with a great woman, "Hayley," for three years.

Strike one! 21 is too young to get into a long-term relationship. He should have spent this time (aside from establishing himself professionally) dating different women to learn as much as possible about what he likes and doesn’t like and the kind of woman with whom he interacts best.

She has excellent qualities, a good job, she's super loving and would be a wonderful wife someday.

Great. But this guy's terminology makes me think we was raised without a father, and is suffering as a result.

My family loves Hayley -- but my buddies don't, and it is causing me to have mixed feelings.

Maybe your friends can see something you don't. Or maybe you've surrounded yourself with jerks for friends (and your friends tend to be a reflection on you, by the way).

Some days I love her, but on others I want to break up. Then I think of how fantastic our lives would be together. It's weird, because Hayley doesn't change her personality -- it's totally my issue.

Clearly, you aren't ready to be in a long-term relationship, and you probably stunted your growth by getting into this one at age 21. I would guess that it is his first relationship - that she's the only girl who ever paid attention to him.

I'm scared that if I break up with her it could be the worst mistake of my life, and I'll regret it.

If she is really as great and stable as you say she is, then she deserves someone better than you, and you should stop being selfish and stop wasting her time. If you are "meant to be" it will happen whether you break up now or not. People do get back together, after all.

Dear Abby gets it right when she replies:

Hayley may make a wonderful wife someday, but from your letter, YOU are nowhere near ready for marriage. Mature love doesn't blow hot and cold, and the feelings you finally experience for the woman you marry won't be dictated by the impression she makes on your buddies.

If Haley is mature, she will thank this guy for his honesty if he levels with her and breaks it off, and will take steps to distance herself from him, evaluate why she got into and stayed in a relationship with him in the first place, and add what she's learned from this experience to her decision making process, hopefully avoiding making some of the same mistakes again.

Or, if she is immature or insecure, she could plead with him to "redeem" the relationship, pressuring him to propose marriage (with the help of his family), get involved in planning the big party so much that she doesn't have to deal with the problems in the relationship, and marry the guy. Soon after that, they will likely start arguing a lot over the time he spends with his buddies. She might intentionally get pregnant, thinking that will help get things to her liking. That cycle may repeat any number of times, and then she may or may not divorce him.

Hopefully, Haley will go the first route.