DEAR ABBY: I'm a 66-year-old married man with two grown kids. I taught high school for 30 years.
A couple of years ago, a young English teacher, "Marci," was teaching a class in my room, and we became friends. Since then, we have been going out on Fridays after school to have a few beers. We just enjoy each other's company, but my wife thinks it is weird.
We have been married for 34 years, and most of them have been happy. It doesn't make sense to me that she thinks I shouldn't be hanging out with my former co-worker. I have started not telling her Marci will be at the brewery, when in fact she will be. I am recently retired and don't have many friends other than the people I worked with all those years. Am I being weird or is my spouse? -- CONFUSED IN OHIO
DEAR CONFUSED: You are not being weird; you are being dishonest. Your wife isn't weird, either. She's feeling threatened because you are "hanging out" with a younger woman.
Stop lying and start being honest again. Explain it to your wife the way you did to me -- that you don't have many friends other than the people you worked with all those years, and you would like to maintain those relationships -- at least until you can find new friends. If you invited her to come along with you, it might allay her fears.