6/9/09
Your Call: He's Fighting a War; I'm Hanging with His Wife

soldierphoto by army.mil

Dear Em & Lo,

I’ve been troubled by something lately. One of my exes (from several years ago) got married and recently moved into my town with her husband and infant son. Her husband is in the military and was deployed shortly thereafter. Since then she and I have become very close friends. We long since grew out of any romantic feelings we had for each other and our friendship is strictly platonic. I am the only one in town that she knows, and she is a stay-at-home mom. She has her hands full all day with her young son and hyperactive dog, and at night she can’t leave the house because no one would be there to watch her son. So I spend a lot of time hanging out with her at her house. What I worry about is what her husband thinks. I know that if the woman I loved was spending large amounts of time with one of her exes while I was off fighting in a damn WAR; I might be a bit worried, maybe even a little angry, regardless of how much I trusted her. I don’t want her husband to suffer, but she’s a great friend. Also, it should be noted (for context) that I am single. Am I just over-thinking this, or am I doing something morally wrong? And if so, what should I do?

— Mr. Platonic (Really)