Ask Experts Questions for FREE Help !
Ask

Weddiquette

Asked Jul 27, 2011, 10:36 PM — 21 Answers
I have been dating a guy for about 18 months. His wife is deceased and his adult daughter just announced her engagement. I've met the daughter only once but it went well and we've exchanged a few friendly emails and also small gifts for each other's birthdays and christmas. It's been low key but friendly, no conflict whatever.

The father/my boyfriend told me he was not sure I could come to the wedding, that he'd have to talk it over with his daughter.

As I expected, the daughter has said it's fine for me to come, but I am still a little taken aback. It never occurred to me that I would not be welcome. Wouldn't I be a sort of natural plus one? There's no mystery conflict with anyone else in the family, either.
To put it another way, would it have been reasonable to exclude the father's steady girlfriend from the wedding?

How would you react to this if it happened to you?

21 Answers
joypulv's Avatar
joypulv Posts: 11,872, Reputation: 9171
Uber Member
 
#21

Jul 28, 2011, 11:32 AM
We all have our strange side. I have mine. My novel is a tragi-comedy-adventure through the 60s and 70s, and then slogs along, boring as all get out. You have a good head on your shoulders, and if his daughter does too, her parents couldn't have been total losses, right?

He wouldn't move out of their house, he wants to move in with you, he canceled the move to nearby... Is this the typical male who is lost without a female nest?
I wonder invite him to stay with you for about 2 months (assuming he's retired or can work anywhere). That might give you enough time to really learn more about him. LDRs are never a good way to know someone.
As for blaming doctors and/or killing herself - that might be the flip side of blaming himself, a shield to protect himself. But who knows? Maybe it's true. Again, I shouldn't be reading into the man. It just seems that he hasn't accepted her death, and never will the way he's going.
Helpful
asking's Avatar
asking Posts: 2,675, Reputation: 3363
Ultra Member
 
#22

Jul 28, 2011, 01:16 PM
Boring sounds good. Congratulations!

I agree with everything you say--about the daughter and the guilt.

And, yes, he can work anywhere; hence his offer to move.

Will chew on the idea of suggesting he move in for two months. I just thought it would be more sensible to live in the same town for a while and date properly. Plus two moves isn't necessarily easier...

Never accepting his wife's death sounds difficult. If you are right, I'm not sure what that entails.
Helpful

Not your question? Ask your question View similar questions

 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Add your answer here.

Remove Text Formatting

Undo
Redo
 
Decrease Size
Increase Size
Bold
Italic
Underline
Align Left
Align Center
Align Right
Ordered List
Unordered List
Decrease Indent
Increase Indent
Insert Email Link
Wrap [QUOTE] tags around selected text
Wrap [CODE] tags around selected text
Wrap [HTML] tags around selected text
Wrap [PHP] tags around selected text
Wrap [YOUTUBE] tags around selected text
Notification Type:




View more Weddings questions Search