"A few decades ago I was briefly, unwisely, involved with a young woman, 14 years my junior, whom I met in an online "chat room," way back when those were a thing. A yearlong bicoastal romance ensued, with a few visits back and forth. She was 27 and I was 42. It ended after a year when I neither phoned nor sent flowers on Valentine's Day."
"Without going into detail, she appears to have been hovering on the edge of homelessness for the past 15 years, and has repeatedly applied to me for funds to see her through this or that emergency. I think that, beginning in 2010, I have probably sent her $5,000 or $6,000 total, with probably a third of that over the last couple of years."
"I'm fairly certain that she's not scamming me, that she is in fact weeks at any time from homelessness. And I can, God help me, continue to help her meet the rent if I have to, but you know, I don't, as a septuagenarian widower, feel like taking on a long-ago ex-girlfriend as a dependent. How can I get out from under this?"
A man reconnected on social media with a woman he dated for one year three decades earlier. She later attained a coveted professional credential that was rescinded after egregious professional misconduct. She appears to have hovered near homelessness for about fifteen years and has repeatedly requested emergency funds. The man estimates he has sent $5,000–$6,000 since 2010, with about a third in recent years. He is a septuagenarian widower unwilling to assume long-term financial responsibility for a long-ago partner. He is fairly certain she is not scamming him. He is not responsible for her life and continued financial help is not helping.
Read at Slate Magazine
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