Boyfriend for Seven Years

Dear Ruby:  I’ve been dating my boyfriend for seven years.  We text each other all day, we talk on the phone all night, and we spend every weekend together.  He says he loves me, and I know I love him, but he never talks to me about marriage.  Do you think he’s dating me just for what he can get?

--Latonya in Illinois

Dear Latonya in Illinois:  I don’t know.  What is he getting? Most men only marry women they truly love and respect; and women who they feel loved and respected them. Research shows, men only marry women who require them to marry them and have demonstrated an expectation to be marriage.  

Concerned Parents

Dear Ruby:  Our son is 17 and believe me, we are not strict parents.  But how can we convince him that we put down certain rules for his own good?

For instance, we absolutely forbid him to park his car in unknown communities, or in front of homes of people he does not know.  He says all the teenagers with cars do it and he is hurt because it looks like we don’t trust him.  We DO trust him.  But so many teenagers have been victims of carjackers, robbers, and drive by shooters who look for teenagers in parked cars.  Do I dare frighten him with these facts?  Can you put some advice into words to help us, Ruby?  I’m sure other parents have this problem.

--Concerned PARENTS

Dear Concerned PARENTS:  If enlightening and awakening him to reality is “frightening” – then I say frighten him. Teenage friends or teenage couples parked for   any period of time in unknown communities, or in front of homes of people they do not know are set ups for all types of crimes and criminals.  All parents should alert their children and teens to growing danger.