DEAR ABBY: Right before the COVID pandemic began, I was working in D.C. and met a man who lives there. We had amazing chemistry, but soon afterward I was no longer able to travel. We stayed in touch for a bit, but out of the blue he stopped communicating. I didn't think much of it because I was stuck back in the Midwest, so there was nowhere for the relationship to go.
Advertisement
Two years later, out of the blue, he contacted me. By this time I knew he was married with four older children (all but one over 18). We started out just talking, then realized we could talk to each other about anything. We not only knew we had good physical chemistry, but suddenly found we had formed an intellectual and emotional connection unlike anything either of us had experienced before. I did feel guilty but, at the same time, I don't subscribe to societal norms regarding monogamy, and neither does he.
He wants to keep his family intact while the two youngest finish school. Also, he and his wife don't have a typical love relationship -- it was an arranged marriage. We have the most amazing conversations and have fallen hard for each other.
I suspect, however, that at the end of the day, I may be hung up on a fairytale that will never happen and there will always be a reason for him not to leave his marriage. Any advice is appreciated. -- STRUCK BY LOVE
DEAR STRUCK: I'm glad to offer it: RUN while you still can. The odds of this working out the way you dream of are low. If you follow my advice, I won't be reading a letter from you in the next 10 years or so bemoaning the end of a relationship that was destined from the beginning to go nowhere.