You’re only as stuck in union as you choose to be

Maureen Scurfield Miss Lonelyhearts
By: Maureen Scurfield Posted:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My ever-expanding wife of eight months says she’s sick of me and my drinking. I told her I’m tired of her and her overeating.

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 24/05/2025 (498 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My ever-expanding wife of eight months says she’s sick of me and my drinking. I told her I’m tired of her and her overeating.

She’s been piling on weight and there’s not even a pregnancy as an excuse — she says kids are just too messy to consider.

I can’t even remember when we last had sex. We fight all the time now that we’re married and it feels like we’re stuck in the mud. She just keeps on saying, “You signed the wedding papers, too, so don’t complain to me.”

What can we do? All we do is go to work, come home and argue.

— Marriage Mistake? Exchange District

Dear Mistake: You two seem to be getting a twisted kind of enjoyment out of quarrelling about your marriage. Why waste your time doing this if it’s such a mistake?

With no kids, you two are only as stuck as you want to be. One or both of you can easily walk away from the strained marriage, get legal counsel and a divorce to free you up again.

The two of you are not good for each other’s self-esteem with all this bitterness, so maybe it’s time to cut your losses and cope with your respective issues on your own.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I’m seriously in love with someone at work. Sometimes we stop talking in mid-sentence and just stare at each other. We really just want to kiss each other senseless.

She is a woman and so am I. The good thing is we’re both divorced now, having finally left our unhappy straight marriages. We are very, very close.

The trouble is, we hold high positions with our company and the owners of it are “down on gays,” as they sometimes say.

The only way we can see each other for any length of time is by doing work projects that involve private meetings. We also do a little travelling together for the company, which is hard to wrangle.

I’d like us to start seeing each other openly, but my mate says her ex-husband will use that to make a legal move to try to have their kids live with him full time. So now what?

— Ladies in Love, West St. Paul

Dear Ladies in Love: Hike off together to see some lawyers about the likelihood of your love losing primary custody of the children over her being with another woman.

You likely already know custody is not simply about the adults’ desires. It matters who the children want to live with and who would be around more for them to see to all their needs and show them proper love and attention.

Would you ever want to live with this woman and her children? Do you know them and like them? There is much to consider, so take it slowly, and do a lot of experimenting, especially where various experiences with her kids are concerned.

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.

Maureen Scurfield

Maureen Scurfield
Advice columnist

Maureen Scurfield writes the Miss Lonelyhearts advice column.

   Read full biography

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.

Maureen Scurfield

Maureen Scurfield
Advice columnist

Maureen Scurfield writes the Miss Lonelyhearts advice column.

   Read full biography

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.

Related Articles

Normal for dreams to peruse novel experiences To escape emptiness, reach out to others Shut out extraneous noise over wedding plans What’s to lose by following growing sons home? Get up off your pew and connect with the ‘choir’ Jumping to jealousy has trashed this romance Split with bisexual mate not down to trickery Take the leap, stop languishing in limbo with ex-love Reckless behaviour signals need for serious help Mom’s criminal past a lot to unpack by yourself

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

Letters, Oct. 2

6 minute read Friday, Oct. 2, 2026

Are clinical psychologists next?

Re: Province hires 17 psychiatrists to work in Winnipeg, Selkirk (Sept. 25)

Manitoba’s government has shown that it knows how to solve a specialist staffing crisis in health care. Clinical psychologists are still left to wonder when it will be their turn.

The Manitoba Psychological Society (MPS) welcomes the recent announcement of 17 new psychiatrists in the public system. Any investment in mental health deserves to be celebrated, especially in light of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health’s report card that was released in August 2026. Manitoba received overall grades of F and D for mental health and substance use health, respectively. Although disappointing, this is not surprising given that Manitoba spends five to six per cent of its health budget on mental health and addictions, about half the recommended rate of 12 per cent.

May be whiff of truth to ex’s odour ardour

Maureen Scurfield 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I ran into an old boyfriend I used to curl on a team with, and we went for drinks. We’ve been almost eight years apart, and I couldn’t remember why we broke up, as we always had such a great time together.

It wasn’t until the second date — this time on a weekend — that it came back to me, with a jolt. Pee-yew! I remembered he doesn’t use deodorant on weekends. Why? He enjoys his own body odour. I recalled that a bit too late, and it was just as awful as ever! I went home early.

Tonight, he called and I refused him another date. I said, “Think back. You remember why we broke up?” Then he said, “Oh yeah, you hated my no-deodorant weekend policy. Well, guess what? Some women don’t mind!” I said I really doubted that, and that ended the conversation. Miss L., wouldn’t any women find stinky underarms offensive?

— Sensitive Nose, Fort Richmond

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Jodie Byram, MLA for Agassiz, speaks to attendees at the fourth community engagement meeting regarding the proposed RCUT modification to the Trans Canada Highway at the Highway 5 intersection at Carberry Collegiate, Wednesday.

Confidence vote was gamble for MLA, Tories: political expert

Alex Lambert 4 minute read Preview

Confidence vote was gamble for MLA, Tories: political expert

Alex Lambert 4 minute read Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026

BRANDON — A Progressive Conservative MLA’s decision to put forward a confidence motion against the party’s former leader carries a lot of risk for her and the Tories, a political science expert says.

Obby Khan resigned as leader of the PCs on Monday after Jodie Byram (Agassiz) initiated a confidence vote against him the previous week.

The majority of the PC caucus voted in favour of Khan, but he resigned a few days later, citing continued efforts to undermine him by a minority of MLAs.

Brandon University political science Prof. Kelly Saunders said while she doesn’t know what Byram’s motivations were for triggering the vote, such a move carries a lot of risk.

Read
Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026
Magnific Active management — security selection — is often very beneficial in international markets compared with a passive approach involving owning entire markets that include many lower-quality companies, says one expert.

International flavour: Canadian investors may want to make like Ottawa, diversify beyond U.S.

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

International flavour: Canadian investors may want to make like Ottawa, diversify beyond U.S.

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Canada is learning the hard way about the dangers of putting too many eggs in its U.S. economic basket.

Much has been made about the need to diversify our economy away from the United States.

Diversification is understandably beneficial. The more varied streams of revenue a nation has, the less affected the economy will be when one of those sources is interrupted.

The same can be said about investment portfolios.

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

’Disgusting’ posters being investigated by police

Morgan Modjeski 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:22 PM CDT

The Winnipeg Police Service major crimes unit is investigating what some have labelled offensive and hateful posters on full-display at a Winnipeg home.

One of the people irked by the display is Gracie Garrett. She’s has lived on Ashburn Street in Winnipeg’s Minto neighbourhood for almost ten years. She’s never felt unsafe in the neighbourhood before, but now, a set of posters plastered on a nearby house are making her feel uneasy.

The five signs, posted facing the street prominently on a front window, contain a slur, refer to Nazis as “heroes” and call Muslims, Christians and other groups “evil.”

Learning of the signs Friday, Garrett said she’ll be reporting the posters to police, as she worries they incite and promote violence.

Letters, Oct. 20

6 minute read Monday, Oct. 20, 2025

Stefanson’s legacy

Re: Is Stefanson’s fine fitting punishment? (Editorial, Oct. 17)

It’s appropriate to thank outgoing politicians for their service. For many reasons, my thanks to former premier Heather Stefanson are highly qualified and grudgingly offered.

The fine that she will pay certainly does not match the gravity of her offence. At the time she remained the caretaker premier, it was on her to behave with integrity and she deliberately chose not to do so. She wasn’t forced into anything; she made a deliberate choice to try to circumvent an important rule.