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Tell Me About It: Mate threatens to move if she meets friend

Question: An old friend whom I had not seen in 25 years contacted me online. We dated for a short time in our teens and were friends for several years after. We lost touch when I married and moved away.

Question:

An old friend whom I had not seen in 25 years contacted me online. We dated for a short time in our teens and were friends for several years after. We lost touch when I married and moved away.

We agreed to meet for a drink, talk, share old photos, etc. There was no mention or hint of romance in the "etc." and none anticipated. I have always been faithful and take my commitment to remain so seriously.

I told my husband about the contact when it first occurred, but unfortunately I did not tell him as plans to meet evolved. It was always my intention to tell him, I just never found the right moment. A few days before the planned get-together my husband found out on his own while using my computer. As a result he thinks I lied, and although it didn't feel like it at the time, he's right.

He was extremely upset and told me flat-out that if I did not agree to ending communication, he would move out. I agreed, and I feel awful. I love my husband but I also miss my old friend. I will not go back on my word, but I'm feeling controlled and that my husband is being unreasonable. Can you see an amicable outcome here?

Answer: You want your husband to cool off, apologize for overreacting, accept your apology and explanation, and send you off to see your friend with his blessing.

I don't see that happening. Not with this husband, and not with this friend.

While his threat to move out (!) was an overreaction, I can certainly see why your husband feared an affair; regardless of what kind of "etc." you had in mind, you were arranging to meet a former love behind your current love's back.

Unfaithfulness isn't the only reason people sneak. Sometimes, they sneak because they expect someone to misread their motives, disapprove and shut them down - and they fear both the sting of disapproval and the emotional confinement of being told what to do. (Why does a child sneak candy?)

Some people develop this habit in a restrictive adult relationship; some carry it into adult relationships from childhood. So I'm thinking you "never found the right moment" because there was no such thing. You expected your husband would freak.

The candy-sneaking dynamic inflates both the appeal of the thing one is sneaking off to do and the perceived obstacles to being honest. If your husband is normally secure and trusting, then severing the tie to your old friend closes the issue properly, however sadly.

But if this is just the latest episode of your life as facade-keeper, for whatever reason, then please give careful thought to other ways you've gone "underground" to toe some invisible line.