[Evans, Marv]

Lee, these reminders about developing relationships with women too soon are important. Lots of guys make the mistake of jumping into relationships way too soon. I was single for 14 years after my first wife & I went our separate ways (which was for different reasons than yours), and I wasn't interested in getting married again since I was already up in years. I found tons of single women out there anxious to snag me, and once you get into an ongoing relationship the pressure builds. So I decided to manage relationships based on friendship (with benefits if they were interested) and made that plain up front. I let them know I wanted to do enjoyable activities with them but wasn't interested in anything permanent and wouldn't object to them dating other men either. This freed me up to enjoy activities with a number of women on my terms, without any pressure and tended to weed out those intent on snagging a quick husband. There were plenty of those. I finally ended up marrying a young lady who had hung around for about twelve years, giving me space but letting me know she was there for me. Now I wouldn't give her up for anything and plan to keep her. There are real benefits in managing your future relationships and commitments.