Need some help

[Elspode]

Not well at all...I was thinking you were 18 or 19, and worrying that you were not using appropriate adult logic. At 26, you certainly have enough life experience behind you to be dealing with things clear-headedly, and indeed, that is the way it seemed from what you had already said. But we do worry about our own here on The Cellar. We may be only an electronic community, but a community we are, as real and valuable as any of flesh and blood.

You sound as though you have actually thought things out carefully and are behaving quite responsibly. Just don't let someone who *might* be less capable and well-adjusted than yourself make you swerve from a mature and rational path just because you have feelings for them. Sometimes, all the love in the world can't undo the damage that has been done to someone that makes them behave irresponsibly, and you going down with their ship is not a good thing.

Keep us posted, and keep yourself happy and healthy!