DEAR ABBY: My fiance, "Mr. Right," and I have been together three years. He wasn't born in this country, but he became a citizen quite a while ago.
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His mother says she "loves me to death" and brags about me to all her friends, but she frequently makes comments that "Americans are stupid." She also calls my mother stupid because she has been married three times and has three children by three different men.
I have told Mr. Right that this hurts me deeply and asked him to say something to his mother about it, because I'm concerned that one day I'll lose my temper. He still hasn't said anything.
We are being married next year, and I'm afraid this will cause a problem between his mother and me. How can I tell her how offended I am without hurting her? -- UPSET IN SPARTANBURG, S.C.
DEAR UPSET: The next time your fiance's mother calls Americans stupid, remind her that her son is now a proud American. And the next time she makes an insulting comment about your mother, tell her you find it extremely hurtful when she puts your mother down. If the woman persists after that, you'll know she really doesn't "love you to death," and that if you marry "Mr. Right," you're in for one heck of a mother-in-law problem.