Summer schism seems to signal the end of marriage 

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: My husband I are on the terminal outs after a summer at the lake. I recently retired from a good career, while he continued to work and came out every weekend. 

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/09/2020 (2219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: My husband I are on the terminal outs after a summer at the lake. I recently retired from a good career, while he continued to work and came out every weekend. 

I found myself enjoying his absence and feeling revolted by the pedantic way he talks and how boring the man is.

The cottage is fully insulated and beautiful in the fall, so, in August, I announced I was going to stay here for a few months and write the autobiography I’ve been threatening to write for years. I told him he could stay in the house in Winnipeg, work in or out of his office, and continue coming out here on weekends.

We didn’t even kiss goodbye and he seemed happy to be going last weekend and packed his whole bureau up. Good riddance. We have been in separate bedrooms all summer and it was his idea.

Today my next-door neighbour and good friend in the city phoned my cell and asked me too carefully if we’d gotten a new car. I asked why, and she told me a little car had been there for two days and nights, so she thought I must be home.

I phoned my husband at his work and asked him who was staying in our house, and he said, “If there was someone, it’d be none of your business as we’re separated.” 

News to me! I got in my car and stepped on it, and two hours later was at our door. There was “evidence” all over the bathroom and master bedroom that a woman had been there the night before. I’m too much of a lady to say exactly what.

I phoned him and said, “I’m home and you have a woman!” He said, “Call your lawyer and get out of the house. Go back to your place at the lake.”

I  couldn’t speak. I went to my sister’s instead. I’m in so much shock I don’t know what to do. I didn’t even cry, but I haven’t made any moves to help my situation.— In Shock, South Winnipeg

Dear In Shock: Your marriage sounds like it’s over — and you need to face that fact, with some help.

It only takes one definite vote to end it. Your husband made a few decisions a while back — perhaps in the summer when you lived “together/apart.” He didn’t inform you of them, but he definitely decided.

If you think he didn’t feel your revulsion in the summer, you were wrong. It likely was evident in the look on your face and tone of your voice.

Also note that it was his decision not to sleep with you at the lake, perhaps a sign he was being true to a new woman already.

You do need to call a divorce lawyer, and an accountant you don’t share with your husband.

Plus, you need to consult a marriage counsellor alone and then have another appointment with your husband present to get some closure. The professionals will advise on money, property decisions and living arrangements.

 

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: My mother is driving me crazy. She’s unhappy about something in the last two months and is taking it out on me. I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but I can’t do anything right! All I know is she came back from a trip with her guy and she can’t seem to stand me now.

I think she wants her guy to move in, but this is a small house with no privacy. I am 21 and had always thought I’d move out after I finished my master’s degree.

I have a summer job I could continue, rather than quit. If forced to, I could work full-time and forget university for a year.

Today I asked her if she wanted me to move out, and she said, “If you want to,” and sounded hopeful — that’s the best word to describe it. 

My dad would take me in, but I don’t think his new wife would like it, even though their house is big.

I have girlfriends at work who share a house and I could ask them for a room, but then I’m afraid I might not work hard enough at school. I can’t afford to party too much. Please help.— Catapulted? Fort Richmond

Dear Catapulted: Look at this as a good thing. At 21, it’s time to launch yourself out of the nest!

Lots of students are independent at 21, with student loans and part-time jobs — whatever is needed. Call the university and see what is available to you money-wise.

In your case, I’m sure your dad (with the big house) would prefer to give you some tuition and rent money, rather than have you move in with him and his new wife.

In fact, your mom might want to do the same, as she also has a romantic partner and is hoping for some privacy.

As for partying too much, surely you can control yourself at 21, without living with a parent. Look at this as the adventure you have been needing — and just didn’t know it.

 

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6.

Miss Lonelyhearts

Miss Lonelyhearts
Advice Columnist

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Morning-show veteran swaps microphone for macchiatos at new Corydon café

David Sanderson 9 minute read Preview

Morning-show veteran swaps microphone for macchiatos at new Corydon café

David Sanderson 9 minute read Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026

Good news if you were used to having your morning coffee with Terri Gale, who earlier this summer signed off from CTV Your Morning, after 15 years on the job.

Gale, the three-hour program’s longtime weather expert, and her husband Rob Gale, the ex-head soccer coach of Valour FC and co-founder of the Northern Super League’s new Winnipeg franchise, are the owners of Golden Hour Café and Bar at 775 Corydon Ave.

Gale (formerly Apostle) nods when she is asked who would know more about caffeinated beverages than a person who, for the last decade and a half, set her alarm to go off in the wee small hours.

“I do love coffee and take mine black. Except because I hate burning my tongue — not a good thing when you speak for a living — I got into the habit of throwing a couple of ice cubes in my cup, to be on the safe side,” Gale says, seated on the second level of their attractive, 2,100-square-foot premises, which officially opened in mid-September.

Read
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026

Essential workers ruling raises questions

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Essential workers ruling raises questions

Editorial 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

Ever been to a Dynacare clinic? Most of us have been. It’s an amazing demographic and ethnic slice of the city we’ve become.

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Waiver wire pickup leads Jets to victory in Pittsburgh

Ken Wiebe 6 minute read Preview

Waiver wire pickup leads Jets to victory in Pittsburgh

Ken Wiebe 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:12 PM CDT

PITTSBURGH – Now that’s a positive first impression.

The Winnipeg Jets swept a two-game road trip, thanks in part to Clay (Mud) Stevenson making 30 saves in his debut with the team that claimed him off waivers one week earlier.

Stevenson was excellent in a 3-2 victory for the Jets over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night at PPG Paints Arena.

“He obviously made some big big stops, right up to the end of the game there,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “He was real solid and confident and looked comfortable. It was great to see a kid come in here like that, a new organization late in training camp. He came as advertised.”

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 11:12 PM CDT

Telekinetic teen hits small screen

Denise Duguay 4 minute read Preview

Telekinetic teen hits small screen

Denise Duguay 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

At desperate times like these, it’s good to be reminded that one person can make a difference. A telekinetic high schooler, grieving lover, ambitious law firm, frantic father and spiritual climber offer a variety of inspiring lessons in this new offering of TV recommendations.

Carrie (series premières Wednesday, Oct. 7 on Prime Video)Famously over-the-top filmmaker Brian De Palma (Phantom of the Paradise, Dressed to Kill, Scarface) directed the 1976 Carrie into its status as one of the scariest films of the time and beyond. It became better known than the debut horror novel by Stephen King from which it was adapted. It even trumped the three adaptations that followed. This new TV series looks ready to challenge that supremacy. Taking the title role made famous by Sissy Spacek, Manitoba actress Summer H. Howell (see Randall King’s interview at wfp.to/carrie) plays a homeschooler thrilled to finally be allowed to attend public high school. But when the mean girls begin circling and blood manifests in scary new ways, the new girl’s telekinetic potential blossoms in spectacular fashion. Also of horrific note as Halloween approaches: Below (Netflix miniseries premièring Thursday) stars Josh Hartnett as a fisherman trying to protect his family and town from a mysterious sea creature; Eternally Yours (sitcom premièring Thursday, Oct. 8, on CBS/Global) is a new vampire comedy; and Crystal Lake (thriller series premières Oct. 15 on Crave) stars Linda Cardellini (DTF St. Louis) as Pam Voorhees, single mom of a tormented kid named Jason, in this Friday the 13th origin story. Boo!

 

Small Prophets (series Canadian première Wednesday, Oct. 7, on Apple TV)Canadian fans of British TV have been champing at the bit for this quirky series since its acclaimed U.K. première in February. It’s a shaggy, quietly hilarious character study in the vein of Detectorists (2014-22, AcornTV), both of which were created by Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean), who also starred in Detectorists and plays a supporting role in Small Prophets. When the new story opens, Michael Sleep (Detectorists’ Pearce Quigley) is living a life of quiet desperation, visiting his father (Sir Michael Palin) and pining for the return of his disappeared beloved, Clea. Until, that is, Dad shares a loony alchemical recipe that sparks hope in Michael that he might be able to summon spirits to then summon Clea to … the garden shed? Not as creepy as it sounds? A tale of hope, frustratingly indirect action, meddlesome and ineffectual neighbours and, of course, true, true love.

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Real journalists matter in an AI world

Paul Deegan 4 minute read Preview

Real journalists matter in an AI world

Paul Deegan 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

An algorithm can decide what you see, but it doesn’t report the news. Nunatsiaq News, an award-winning newspaper in Nunavut, recently reported that a so-called “news” website was posting AI-generated articles about the north by stealing real news stories produced by real journalists.

The articles were supposedly written by Nunavut correspondent Leah Qammaniq — a fake journalist, with a fake photo and a fake bio.

Governor General Louise Arbour warned us of fake news in her installation speech in June. She said, “We must continue to protect the public space in which our national debates take place: from schools and universities to the media, political parties, unions and civil society organizations …With instant access to vast amounts of information, it is very tempting to pay little attention to the reliability of sources. The lines between knowledge and belief, between truth and falsehood, between facts and assumptions, are increasingly blurred. AI could be threatening not only the way we live and work, but also the control we exercise over our own destiny.”

The Government of Canada has recognized the problem as well. Its recent discussion paper, Enhancing trust in artificial intelligence through increased transparency, stated, “Canadians encounter news reporting, product reviews, and audio-visual content across the internet, often without any indication of whether it was written by a person, generated by an AI system, or produced through some combination of both … A particular concern within this broader landscape is that generative AI greatly enables the creation and dissemination of deceptive or misleading content.”

Read
2:00 AM CDT

‘Amazing honour’: Winnipeg distribution centre continues award-winning ways for McKesson Canada

Aaron Epp 5 minute read Preview

‘Amazing honour’: Winnipeg distribution centre continues award-winning ways for McKesson Canada

Aaron Epp 5 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

After a three-year absence, the trophy is back in Winnipeg.

Last week, McKesson Canada named its 120,000-square-foot pharmaceutical distribution centre in the northwest part of the Manitoba capital its Distribution Centre of the Year. The award recognizes the facility’s role in helping essential medications reach communities across the province and some of Canada’s remote regions.

This is the fourth time the Winnipeg facility has earned the company-wide award since it opened five years ago. McKesson previously honoured the centre in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The recognition comes with a trophy, as well as a banner that was hung from the rafters on Thursday.

More than 100 employees work across the centre’s day-and-night operations, processing between 80,000 and 100,000 medication units daily. Last year, the centre distributed more than 21 million medication units while maintaining more than 99 per cent accuracy.

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT