Dear Queenie,
My mother died after a long illness and by a week or so after her funeral my father started socializing with the nurse who had been taking care of her while she was bedridden and now, only a couple of months later, they are dating.
Dad even spent the holidays with this woman instead of with us, his family, the way we have always done.
Queenie, how can he be so disrespectful of his late wife’s memory and of us?—Grieving daughter
Dear Daughter,
I understand that you are still mourning the loss of your mother, and you have my condolences.
However, it is possible that your father did his grieving while his wife was dying and had already come to terms with his loss by the time she died. And there is a good reason the marriage vows are “until death do us part.”
As for his missing the holidays with you, it is possible that the prospect of being with all of you but with your mother missing was more than he could bear.
Try to find it within yourself to be glad that your father is not facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life alone.
