Direct Answers Column for the week of June 23, 2008

I have an ex six years older than me.  Our relationship was troubled in the end.  He was doing drugs and drinking excessively, and I was obsessive about fixing him.  Finally I moved out without a goodbye and went back to my hometown many miles away.  As terrible as our relationship was, he was my first love, and it took me a long time to get over him.