When I was growing up, it seemed like the perfect age for people to settle down was 25.  The older I got, the more that age and opinion changed.  While my opinion has changed, I still believe there is a magic number that people should shoot for as far as striving to achieve a certain level of maturity.  Maybe not so much to settle down, get married and have children – but to reach a level of maturity where they can take full responsibility for their own lives.

There are several people I know who are 30 plus years old, can’t balance a checkbook – can’t figure out why they are always overdrawn, have credit collectors calling day and night and are living paycheck to paycheck.

What do you think?  Is there a magic age by which people should be “ready” to settle down if the opportunity arises?

In a letter to Dear Abby, a mother has presented a problem that she’s hoping to get some advice on.

Here’s the letter:

Dear Abby: My daughter’s former lover, “Beau,” is my age. (She is 20 years younger.) She was married when she and Beau had their affair, and still is. She regretted the affair, but continues to keep him as a friend. She introduced us a few years ago.

As their affair dwindled to a friendship, Beau and I began to have an interest in each other. As I started to see him in a different light, my family got upset.

Are they overreacting, or is this so strange that I should stop the relationship? It does creep me out a bit, but Beau is such fun to be with that I don’t dwell on the past. Would it be extremely weird to date your daughter’s ex-lover? Your thoughts, please.

Having a Ball Down South

Is it really THAT difficult to see WHY anyone in the family would be upset?

Talk about the discomfort this would cause over Thanksgiving and Christmas?

I’m sorry, but I canNOT imagine dating someone that had been involved with and slept with a close personal friend, let alone a family member.

If this mother were standing in front of you at this very moment, what would YOU say to her?