DEAR ABBY: My 30-year-old daughter and her husband separated three months ago. After three years of marriage and months of counseling, she moved in with my husband and me. We were delighted.
She started spending a lot of time helping a male friend renovate his house and has essentially been living with him since the COVID outbreak. It's clearly more than a friendship. I have been open about my concern that she's rushing into this relationship. I encouraged her to see a counselor on her own, which she is doing.
Tonight she shared that she is excited that he booked a trip for them for late summer. I'm struggling because she is still married, and I feel uncomfortable about her relationship with this new guy. Am I too old-fashioned? -- WORRYING MOM IN PENNSYLVANIA
DEAR MOM: You are not too old-fashioned. You are the concerned mom of a woman who is on the rebound. Could it be she was already having feelings for this man as she was ending her marriage?
I'm glad she listened to you and was willing to seek counseling. You gave her good advice. May I suggest you offer her more? Suggest she talk to a lawyer about how her current arrangement might affect a divorce if she and her husband choose to go through with one. That she is essentially living with someone could be construed as having abandoned her husband, and it might prevent an amicable settlement.