DEAR ABBY: I am a married man, but not happily. I have been taking the kids on play dates with a neighbor woman who has been kind enough to meet with the children and doesn't seem to care too much that I'm a guy. As you can imagine, most women will not bother to befriend a man they know is married.
She has two kids who are close in age to mine. She is 19 years younger than I am and lives with her boyfriend.
I have fallen in love with her. I know I can't tell her, and I doubt she feels the same toward me. When we part, we do hug each other. It makes me feel fantastic, something I haven't experienced for a long time.
Should I continue getting together with her or should I avoid her? I feel both happy and sad when I see her because I realize she is basically out of reach. -- PERPLEXED IN WISCONSIN
DEAR PERPLEXED: You feel lonely and isolated. It is understandable that you would be drawn to whatever warmth you can get, but this young woman is not the answer to your problem. Call a halt to this relationship so that you can work on your real problem -- which is your unhappy marriage. Once you sort that out, everything else will fall into place. But continuing to see this woman as things are will only perpetuate your pain.