DEAR ABBY: Help me decide -- should I stay or should I go? My companion, "Ted," and I have known each other for more than two years and have lived together for a year. We have a good relationship and enjoy many of the same things. He pays all the bills, and if we go anywhere, he pays for our trip.
Friends keep asking when Ted and I are going to get married. He is 78 and I am 61. I would like to be married, but Ted says "never," he's "too old to get married."
He was married to his late wife for 45 years. I have been married three times. My last two husbands died, so I understand loss. Ted says he now wants only a girlfriend.
Our family members get along well. One of his children even asked me when we're tying the knot. Abby, is there really an age when it's too old to marry? -- YOUNG AT HEART IN FLORIDA
DEAR YOUNG AT HEART: No, couples older than you and Ted have married. What your companion is telling you is that HE doesn't want to make that kind of commitment again. If a live-in relationship with Ted is something you enjoy and his paying the travel expenses is enough, then stay. However, if a lifetime commitment is what you're really looking for, then you'll have to look elsewhere.