Dear Abby: After 45 years of marriage, I became a widower three years ago. Ours was a double-ring ceremony in the Roman Catholic Church.
Other than the early days when my wedding band had to be wrapped with tape to prevent it from falling off my finger, it has not been off my hand.Now, at age 70, I am romantically involved in a relationship with a lovely widow.
I would like to remove my wedding band and place it in the special ring box where my late wife's wedding band now is. My problem is it will no longer pass over my knuckle no matter how much lubricant I use. It would have to be cut off!
Can this be done? Or is it totally unthinkable?
- Longtime Reader,
Norristown, Pa.
Dear Longtime Reader: Your problem can be easily resolved. Pay your favorite jeweler a visit and tell him you need help in getting your wedding ring off your finger because you may be in the market for an engagement ring in the near future. He or she will be happy to help you. Jewelers have a special tool just for this purpose.
Good luck; I admire your spirit.
Dear Abby: On a quick trip to the grocery store, an obviously caring mother left her two small children in the car with the keys in the ignition and the motor running to keep the air conditioner on, as it was a very hot day.
I watched in horror as the two little ones tried to "drive" - twisting the steering wheel and turning the lights on and off. Then one of the children started to play with the buttons that raised and lowered the windows. I was afraid that one of them would get an arm - or maybe a head - caught in the window, so I rushed into the store and told the mother I was worried about her children.
Without uttering a word, she marched out of the store, put down the windows, turned off the motor and removed the car keys.
Abby, please warn parents never to leave small children in cars with the motor running. They could easily be kidnapped in a carjacking - or push the car out of gear to roll into traffic.
One family I knew lost a son when his neck was caught in a closing window.
- A Small Town in Georgia
Dear Small Town: Your letter should be a reminder to all who drive automobiles: NEVER leave small children unattended in an automobile. Keep them with you. The child who's snatched or injured could be your own.
Dear Abby: After my father died, my 69-year-old mother started dating a 47-year-old married man with two children. He told her his marriage was "in name only" and the usual things that such men tell widows when they're trying to win them over.
Bottom line: He sold my mother a skating rink in North Carolina that didn't exist and took her for $100,000. That money was supposed to be her nest egg and help put her grandchildren through college.
Please, Abby, tell older widows to make no business dealings without consulting their own lawyer and/or financial adviser, or they may wind up in the poorhouse.
- Mother's Daughter in Mass.
Dear Daughter: It is a pity that your mother was left so vulnerable and without a trusted adviser to help her manage her financial affairs after she lost your father. Of course she should not have entered into a business deal without having proper legal representation. Perhaps her bitter lesson will serve as a warning to others. I hope so.
For everything you need to know about wedding planning, order "How to Have a Lovely Wedding." Send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Wedding Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)
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