BY SUEY CHOW

If you have a question, write to me at:
Suey Chow
Willamette Week
822 SW 10th Ave.
Portland, OR 97205
e-mail:sueychow@pobox.com


Read previous Dinner Palace of Love columns.


Dear Suey,
Many years ago, back in 1997, I broke up with a woman with whom I had spent a considerable time of my life, at least five or six years. We met in my hometown while she was dating a friend of mine (shaky start, I know), and we began to see each other. All in all, we had a good relationship, although we did tend to fight a lot. We broke up several times, but always managed to get back together.

To make a long story short, I finally left her. I thought we were both unhappy in the relationship and thought I was doing the right thing. Since then, we have both met new partners and have continued on with our lives.

She moved in exactly four blocks from my house.

The brief closure I had is now torn open. I am married, have been since late 1998. I am sure she is married, too. I am happy with my marriage and I love my wife to death, would never do anything to hurt her and will never be unfaithful. However, ever since I left this woman, and especially now, it feels as though my soul has been torn apart.

What should I do? I want to tell this woman where I live, be friends on a purely platonic level, and move ahead with my life. Do I tell my wife how I feel about this woman and risk hurting her? Do I tell this woman how I feel and risk hurting her, and disrupting her relationship? Or do I remain silent and suffer in my own pain?

--Silently Drowning

Dear S,
I vote for silent suffering and watery death; that's the way they did it on the Titanic. Those of us Portlanders who have water on the brain are doomed to endure some measure of our own self-irrigating tragedy. I am personally acquainted with a girl who has an ex who lives in Wilsonville. Oh why couldn't she have moved to Seattle, and not so close to Fry's where once they shopped so gaily for generic packaged foods and other rare consumer items, where now each must wander one by one through those haunted aisles of memory and hard disks and Incredible Universes past?

Well, Portland isn't such a big town, multiuse has its downside, and the city planners clearly need to reconsider zoning laws for exes and context. In the meantime, maybe you can work out a way to stay indoors. Are you really needed outside? It is supposed to be raining. Perhaps you won't be required to confront the friendliness of your neighbors until next spring, when the lawn starts to grow.

However, if your wife is sensitive to your moods to the extent that she is starting to ask what your goddamned problem is, then I suppose you owe her an explanation. Be honest, be kind; explain that your ex has moved in four blocks down, that it's thrown you for a (very temporary) loop, and leave it at that. Perhaps she'll sympathize. Perhaps she'll pitch a raging fit, in which case you'll act like it's no big deal and there's nothing to get excited about. Either way, make yourself a promise that you will never visit your ex without the presence of your wife (or her husband). The rest will work itself out in time, so long as you bring a chaperone.

P.S. Don't worry: It's supposed to feel this way. But it won't feel so bad forever.

--Suey

 


Previous Columns:

5/5/99

  -Crushed out on movie stars
5/12/99  

-My 22-year-old daughter is threatening to marry her 23-year-old boyfriend
-I met someone over the Internet - but I'm afraid she's a stalker!

5/19/99   -How to buy a dildo
5/26/99   -Do you think it's OK to break up with a guy over sex?
-My boyfriend is homophobic and my best friend is a gay man.
6/2/99   -Should I choose a relationship or the single life?
-How can I tell if I really love my girlfriend, or just her money?
6/9/99   -My boyfriend feels like a pervert
-Should I jeopardize my relationship for sex with my ex?
6/16/99   -dildos can reaffirm your humanity
-where are all the straight men?
6/23/99  

-My wife wants an open marriage
-I can't stand my in-laws' cooking

6/30/99   -black man seeks advice for courting an Asian lady
-tip from a queer customer
  -My lover is a slob
-Breaking up is hard to do
7/14/99   -Buying porn
7/21/99  

-After two years, my boyfriend and I don't have sex enough
-I'm still in love with my ex, and she's getting married

7/28/99

-My girlfriend is obsessed with telephone psychics.
- I'd rather be with my cat than my girlfriend

8/4/99  

-I started seeing a guy who's an 'emotional dud'
-I'm 50-plus and want to get back into dating, love and sex.

8/11/99   -I'm 19, but I only like older women
-When should I meet my online pal?
8/18/99  

-I haven't been attracted to anyone lately
-My girlfriend changed her mind when I was gone for two weeks.

8/25/99  

-My boyfriend believes it was love at first sight, and I don't.
-My boyfriend claims I don't take care of my appearance any more.

9/1/99  

-Do I really want my first time to be as "Girlfriend No. 71"?
-Is this your real name?

9/8/99  

-My girlfriend likes to wear thong underwear, and wants me to as well.
-Is it that bad to be romantically dormant all my life?

9/15/99

-Cold sores ruined my relationship
-Suey's relationship track record.

9/22/99   -My boyfriend doesn't like my artwork.
-My girlfriend drives like a maniac.
9/29/99 -I can't reach orgasm with my girlfriend.
-Break-up avoidance strategies.
10/6/99   -How to date with the teenage children living at home.
-My best friend ran off with my crush.
10/13/99 -I've never had an orgasm. Do you have any suggestions for me?
-What should I do with my argumentative boyfriend?
10/20/99   -How should I discuss my spanking fantsies with my wife?
-Are Portland women 'cold'?
10/27/99   -My wife wants to have sex with another man
-Impotence. That's the problem.
11/03/99   -Why does every woman of quality have a boyfriend?
-I am in love with three men.
11/10/99   -A friend of mine has eyes for a guy she's working with
-I have tons of male friends, but no boyfriends
11/17/99   -I'm a frustrated 16-year-old male
-My boyfriend of two years is terribly jealous of an ex-boyfriend.
11/24/99   -Does penis size matter?
-My marriage is falling apart
12/01/99   -I'm in love with my best friend
-How do women in porn films get their crotches so hairless?
12/08/99   -My long-distance partner wants to be non-monogamous
-My partner is a workaholic
12/15/99   -I love my partner, but want to have sex with other women
-I'm in a good relationship, but my girlfriend's not interested in sex
-I've been dating someone new, but I'm not sure if he's millenium-worthy
12/22/99   -What's your opinion on dating coworkers?
-I love my girlfriend, but she won't marry me
12/28/99   -Should I get back together with my child's father?
- On the cheating scale, how bad are online sex chats?
1/5/00   -My phone chat line 'friend' turns out to be my co-worker's fiancée
1/12/00   -I think I'm addicted to sex
-My boyfriend is a cross-dresser
1/19/00  

-Is it true that men like girls?
-My job and my man are not compatible

1/26/00   -Is web sex cheating?
-Dealing with self-consciousness
2/2/00   -It's Desperate Hunky Man Week!
2/9/00   -Is making out with a drunk friend a bad idea?
2/16/00  

-Is my boyfriend still fantasizing about a threesome?
-Tips for a virgin on what makes a woman quiver.

2/23/00  

-What do I say to people who ask why I've never been married?
-What's the proper etiquette for dating through the personals?

3/01/00   -My boyfriend believes that men are not required to reciprocate sexually.
-How can I make up for missing Valentine's Day?
3/08/00   -What should I do with my once-cheating boyfriend?.
-Exclusively online romances have their advantages?
3/15/00   -I love performing oral sex, but hate eating the hair.
-My girlfriend doesn't enjoy sex, she's just a cuddler.
3/22/00   -My girlfriend is dating a married man.
-I just got out of a long-term relationship, do I want another right now?
4/12/00   -I would like to try stripping, but I've some things to overcome
-I met a booth stripper, during her show and now I'm in love.
4/19/00   -My ex-girlfriend still entertains ideas of us reconciling. I'm ignoble.
-How can I prolong my happy time?
4/26/00   -My guy's so sexually pedestrian
-Our daughter is bitter at us for breaking off her affair with an older man
5/03/00   -I'm an ex-porn performer and I know nothing of lovemaking, only fucking
-I'm tired of being the guy friend.
5/10/00   -Suey hears from the virgins
5/17/00   -What do you think about Ross Jeffries' Speed Seduction seminar and other programs that promise to teach a guy how to get women in bed?
5/24/00   -I've recently started paling around (and more) with a married guy; now it's getting weird.
5/31/00   -Without a ring how is a guy to know if a woman's available?
-I love my husband but recently we fight about everything. I want to try marriage counselling but we're both skeptical.
6/7/00   -"I want to know what love is"
-I'm attracted to unavailable men. Married, uncommunicative, religious, sports-oriented or work-obsessed men seem to be my specialty.
6/14/00   -My best friend, who's a straight male, initiated a sexual encounter. Now our friendship is horribly strained, what's a guy to do?
-What's the etiquette on roommates bringing home lovers and all that?
6/21/00   - There's this girl.... and I want to talk to her.
-Why is it that all the men I meet only want to casually date or have casual sex?
6/28/00   -I'm involved in a relationship that I'm afraid might shock and alienate my family and friends, how to proceed?
7/04/00   - I met this wonderful girl...
7/12/00   -I'm a guy who doesn't like sex.
-I broke up with my boyfriend of three years, but now I deeply regret it...
7/19/00   - Suey, what's with your lame gender cliches?
7/26/00   -I think I'm Straight-Curious (if there is such a thing)
-I've been off and on with my college boyfriend for over 12 years. We're having trouble moving to the next level.
8/2/00  

- I'm 32, just divorce, and dating a guy who's 25. Is there something wrong with what I'm doing??
- I am older and therefore wiser. Your readers are naive. I'll help you set them straight.

8/9/00   -Just when I had lost all hope in men, I met the most amazing guy.
-I'm thinking about contacting a dominatrix. Any advice on how to present myself?
8/16/00  

-My boyfriend is such a sweetheart when he's with me, but when he's out with his guy friends, he turns into a total pig.

-The world's biggest ass

8/23/00   -A year ago, I cheated on my boyfriend of three years with another woman. How can I fix this? He is freaking out.
-Oh Ms. Chow, in this case you're wrong
8/30/00  

-When do you tell someone you're dating that you have hepatitis?

9/6/00   -Clueless fellow in deeply sordid situation
-I'm beginning to suspect a connection between chemical dependency and emotional dependency, or maybe between fitness and emotional independence.
-Is there any way to turn down a bridesmaid offer without offending?
9/13/00   -My wife doesn't want to have sex anymore
-I used to be in the sex service profession, should I tell the man I'm about to marry?
9/20/00   -I started playing out some of my fantasies with my lover in the last year. Things have gotten complex.
- I explained that nail polish is only for girls, to which my son insisted, "I'm a girl too!"
9/27/00   -I'm dating my close friend's ex-husband
-Even though he is gonna dump me after having sex, I still want go out with him.
10/04/00   -Three straight guys agree: Hey, what's with the ladies?
10/11/00   -Are there side-effects to jerking off?
-I'm married, he's married, we're deeply in love with each other and having an affair. And now he's asking me to marry him.
10/18/00   -I have recently gotten out of a yearlong relationship with someone I considered my best friend...now, heartbroken.
10/25/00   - I'm fascinated and infatuated with the parking valet boys at Bluehour.
- I am wondering why I am finding it so difficult to meet that special person.
11/1/00   - I am unable to make my girlfriend orgasm through intercourse or oral sex.
- The chronically ill have to realize that their life-and-death medical tragedies aren't the only problems in the world! What about the mental discomfort of the physically healthy?
11/8/00   - This asshole stripper is giving me the run around
- I love my husband, but in the last few months, every little thing about him drives me crazy.
11/14/00   -I am in love with a man who wants all the benefits of a long-term, committed relationship without the commitment.
- I'm a 30-year-old gay man who has yet to be in a significant relationship.
11/21/00   - My prom date and I encountered each other at a party after not seeing each other for 14 years, one week after I suffered a near-fatal accident.
-There aren't any men out there willing to settle down with a simple country girl. I live and breathe country.
11/28/00   - Can you explain to me why women hate shy men?
- Why do men hate women?
12/05/00   - I accidentally came across a cache of porn on her computer, mostly of nude women. Is my mother a lesbian?
-My father keeps a huge stash of porn on his computer.
12/12/00   - I am 29 years old, female, and I just cannot orgasm from penetration (intercourse).
- My impression of Portland is that it's an older crowd that's mostly married. Is my impression correct?
12/17/00  

-My husband and I have an open relationship for most of the years we've been married, when do we tell our teenage kids?
-My "straight" friend persists in flirting with me (I'm gay).

12/24/00   - I am 33 years old, overweight my whole life. Now I've shed 70 pounds and want to begin dating. Tips?
- Suey, help me develop my vaginal muscles so I can shoot ping-pong balls and smoke joints with it?
12/31/00  

- Some stupid straight guy

1/6/01   -My boyfriend doesn't like to kiss. Otherwise he's normal.
- My Jewish parents are incredible rude to my 1/2 German boyfriend. He even studies Hebrew and the Torah! (things that they never used to have any interest in, BTW)
1/13/01  

- Guy needs help getting over girl who doesn't want him

1/20/01   -Boy want to be with the boys
2/6/01  

- All men have begun to look like George W. to me!
- Marriage is a crock Suey

2/14/01   -Is it really possible for someone who doesn't enjoy sex to learn to enjoy sex?
- I am the bad guy in a bad relationship, and the relationship isn't even mine!
2/21/01  

- I've been having trouble getting sex in this town
- Do people sleep around anymore?

2/28/01   -Lovers but not talkers
3/7/01  

-I'm writing to deliver a message of extreme frustration to guy friends who give my phone number to other guys who are interested in me.
- I'm a girl who adores giving head...

3/14/01   -Why do women seem to prefer tall men?
-My boyfriend and I have been playing our own little game of Temptation Island for a while now...


 

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