70-year-old mom's love life is her own

DEAR AMY: My 70-year-old mother divorced my father five years ago, after 30 years of an emotionally abusive marriage. She slowly recovered her sense of self, made friends and had a fairly fulfilling (if quiet) life. She met a married man three years ago. They got together at their 50th high school reunion. He lives in the South and she lives in New England, and neither wants to move. They speak every day on the phone and travel together. They are having a great time. He is retired and very well off. He pays for her trips and plane tickets. I am thrilled for my mother, but my problem is that although he has been separated for many years and is living apart, this man is still legally married. This does not bother my mother. She has no plans to remarry. He wants to stay legally married because of "severe financial ramifications" with investments he and his wife have together. I am not buying his excuses. I feel my mother is being taken advantage of. I feel he could easily get divorced. I think she is living a fantasy and may get hurt should this man decide to return to his wife or find another girlfriend. Most of the family agrees with me, but mom is adamant that it doesn't bother her, and she just wants to enjoy whatever time they have together. Your thoughts?Concerned DaughterDEAR CONCERNED: Your mother cannot catch a break. She is finally liberated from her abusive marriage, and now her children decide to micromanage her romantic life.

This man is being honest with her, she is fine with things as they are, and she is having a great time. I can't figure out how this adds up to him taking advantage of her.

Your mother could, in fact, get hurt. At 70, given what she has been through, don't you imagine that she already knows that? If your mother's values dictated that she wouldn't see this man unless he got legally divorced, it would be up to her to convey that.