31 answers

Husband Wants to Go on Date with Old Lover - Alone

Hi –
I am hoping for some honest advice/opinions on this. My husband and I have been married over a year now. This is a second marriage for both of us. His first marriage lasted 30 years and was not good for the last 25 years. We worked together when I was married to my first husband. We stayed friends and exchanged Xmas cards over the years. When his marriage dissolved, we ended up dating and got married. During his first marriage he believes his wife cheated and eventually left him for another man. My husband started a close friendship with a woman we had worked with and would occasionally sleep with her when she was not in a relationship. He claims this was because his wife and him stopped having sex when the kids were little. At one point she wanted more and he stopped seeing her because he would not give up being there for his children. This woman has had 2 husbands and is now in a lesbian relationship. She is very flirtatious with everyone. My husband has not spoken to her for about 11 years. This woman bumped into another co-worked last week and gave her cell number to the co-worker to give to him. I was headed out of town Friday night to see my sister and he emailed me and told me he was going out to dinner with this woman. I had a fit. While I felt that he would probably behave himself (as he put it), I did not want him on a date with this flirtatious woman. I felt this could only start trouble. I am pretty adamant about his not being alone with her on my watch. I told him I would go with him and that was unacceptable. Bottom line was he did not see her but talked to her on the phone but was furious with me for not trusting him.
My first husband was a serial cheater and I did not know this until after I was married so the thought of going through that again has me very upset. I am the kind of person who does not believe in extra marital affairs and would never consider doing this myself. Did I do the right thing?

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

Wow - Thanks for all the responses! 43 said no way should I have agreed to his dinner alone and 3 said I should have trusted him.
He did talk to her on the phone that night (yes I did check). When I suggested we go out all together he refused so I definitely made the right decision. He was really not thinking this through and should have handled it better.

Featured Answers

You're right - married people don't go out to dinner, or anything else with old lovers unless you're going out as couples all together.

The world has gone awry - if monogamy, and husbands & wives honoring each other were the norm then we wouldn't have these weird situations with former lovers, ex-spouses etc. I had been married before and my husband had a long-time live-in relationship before we met. But we both knew that once we were together old relationships were done, finished. He wouldn't want me to see an old lover just as I wouldn't want him to.

If a marriage is going to work you have to get rid of the old. A marriage counselor once told me that all remnants of former loves had to be discarded for a marriage to really work - photos, love letters, souvineers, etc. It's a part of the whole package of honor, love & respect. That's what will make a marraige work.

5 moms found this helpful

L.,

YES, YES, YES!!!!! You did the right thing. I wouldn't tolerate that either. He is crazy to think you would be ok with this!!!! Be careful of this woman, this is probably not the last that you have heard of her. GL

M

4 moms found this helpful

Yup you did! thats NOT COOL! why on earth would he think it was OK to go out Alone w/ this "slut".....
Ask him to reverse the situation... would he be fine w/ letting you out Alone??

BUT I do have to say .... you were going out of town ~ SO if he were a Dirt Bag he would/could have just gone out with her and NOT told you/asked you.
Just tell him how uncomfortable this whole situation makes you !

3 moms found this helpful

More Answers

I think you did the right thing by letting him know this was not ok. because it isn't! YIKES!
there is a great marriage advice my hubby and I got early on. One piece of this advice is do not give people reason to talk and eating out alone with any member of the opposite sex gives cause for gossip - yes, even a work colleague in the middle of the day!
call me crazy, but this made such sense to me. I think by offering to go along with him showed that you are not opposed to him talking to this woman,but that you care about his reputation and your marriage and simply want to protect that from others.
also, if they just wanted to "catch up" what is wrong with the phone call?! whey do they have to SEE one another to find out what is going on? sorry, it is not about you not trusting your hubby, it is about you not trusting the other woman's intentions. . . share that with him and maybe he'll come to understand - better yet - have him put the shoe on the other foot and see how he'd react.

7 moms found this helpful

When I saw the title of your post my eyebrows went "SAY WHAT??? TOO WEIRD. NOT OKAY". You did the right thing girl. Say that there's this thing called "woman's intuition" and that you had a gut feeling this isn't a good idea. Let him know that it's not that you don't trust HIM, but that you don't trust HER. Let him know that him talking to her and going out with her would make you so incredibly sick to your stomach -- "Is it really worth it to you to go out with this woman? I guess you wouldn't mind if I called up some guy I used to sleep with and go on a casual date with him while you stayed home? That's not the marriage I want us to have."

5 moms found this helpful

You're right - married people don't go out to dinner, or anything else with old lovers unless you're going out as couples all together.

The world has gone awry - if monogamy, and husbands & wives honoring each other were the norm then we wouldn't have these weird situations with former lovers, ex-spouses etc. I had been married before and my husband had a long-time live-in relationship before we met. But we both knew that once we were together old relationships were done, finished. He wouldn't want me to see an old lover just as I wouldn't want him to.

If a marriage is going to work you have to get rid of the old. A marriage counselor once told me that all remnants of former loves had to be discarded for a marriage to really work - photos, love letters, souvineers, etc. It's a part of the whole package of honor, love & respect. That's what will make a marraige work.

5 moms found this helpful

L., the woman is not only a flirt and a homewrecker, she is bi-sexual. That means she is kind of a one size fits all predator. And your husband is very attracted to that. I think I'd really try to get him to go to marriage counseling with you.

You say you are not the kind of person who believes in extramarital affairs. Yet he fooled around in his marriage, and you bought his reason hook, line and sinker. Now you see his true colors. I have to say that he is very close to going back to his old ways and having another affair with her. If it isn't her, it may be someone else now that he's thinking about it.

And he IS thinking about it, or he wouldn't be wanting to see her. He wouldn't be angry at you for being upset about her. If they had never slept together and she was just an old friend, it would be different.

Better get your ducks in a row. Perhaps this marriage was a mistake and you need to protect yourself.

I'm so sorry.
D.

5 moms found this helpful

L.,

YES, YES, YES!!!!! You did the right thing. I wouldn't tolerate that either. He is crazy to think you would be ok with this!!!! Be careful of this woman, this is probably not the last that you have heard of her. GL

M

4 moms found this helpful

He's been in affair. She's been in an affair. They both have proved they have no boundaries and and are capable of making stupid decisions...and they proved it with each-other. Yes, you did the right thing.

I would have done the same thing, lost all respect for my spouse, and questioned why in the world I am married to such a disrespectful man. But, that's just me.

4 moms found this helpful

Heck yes! No way, no how. No matter how solid your relationship is, that is a temptation waiting to happen 'for old times sake'. Also, go online to your phone provider, and have her # blocked.... just to be safe.

4 moms found this helpful

There is really nothing "okay" about a married man wanting to have a private dinner with a former lover (who probably isn't really lesbian, but bisexual). I'm just trying to think of what my husband would say if I called him with the same request... wait, I wouldn't do that to him and he EMAILED this request? He knew it was wrong or he would have called. They didn't bump into eachother, she's seeking him out.

Even if he had no intention of wrong-doing, she does. Enough booze and "remember whens" and impaired judgment... recipe for disaster! You did the right thing and your husband is way out-of-line here.

4 moms found this helpful

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