Reply #4: Thanks for coming clean

[Ellen Forradalom]

without self-pity. ("I'm such a niiiice guy!")

The whole courtship dance is culture dependent and involves a great many verbal and non-verbal cues. Only an anthropologist with years of study could really identify all of them. It's possible that you're a little 'tone-deaf' in that area.

Please take heart, however. You may have a bumpy ride in the short term, but if you take a deep breath and say, "If Norbert Wiener can get married and have a family, so can I," it will all work out.