Whenever I raise the topic of marriage to my partner of 13 years, he says, “someday, too much money, a hassle,” or some other excuse.     
      He calls me his “wife” to others. We both only received our divorces two years ago - I was waiting for my kids to become of age so my previous husband wouldn’t give me a hard time and spend money on a lawyer. I finally handled it myself.      
      I left my family for him and he left his wife. At the time I only wanted a simple ceremony. I’m embarrassed about the situation and a lot of people already think we’re married. How do I get him to make the commitment?
      - Fed Up  

It may never happen unless you take a firmer stand. The whole “too much money and hassle” can be solved with the cost of a marriage license and an appointment before the wedding official/judge of your local municipality.    
      (You can invite your nearest and dearest back to your home for wine and nibbles, and it’s done).    
      You handled your own divorce, so you can surely arrange your simple wedding. But have you been fearing that will risk the relationship? I’m thinking you need The Talk more than the ceremony.    
      Otherwise, by the time something moves your guy toward marriage (getting older, illness, some turning point), you may be past caring or long gone.

Both my grandparents are sole survivors of the Holocaust. All other members of their families were killed at the concentration camps.    
      My daughter, six, is very close to her great-grandparents; she’s begun to ask about their siblings and other relatives, and why they were all alone when they came here.    
      How does one discuss the Holocaust with a young child? Is age six too young to have such a conversation? I don't want to frighten her and have, as of yet, skirted the issue.
      - Concerned

Your daughter’s too young to absorb the story of the Holocaust in Europe or any other genocide, because of the human devastation that would have to be somehow explained.    
      Thankfully, she’s never experienced anything akin to personal or mass upheaval and devastation, to comprehend it. BUT, your sensitive, curious daughter is not too young to care about her great-grandparents and observe their situation.    
      She can be told in simplest terms that they lived through bad times, when some people experienced harsh treatment, but they were lucky to have each other, to create a family of several generations and have wonderful children like her in their current lives.     
      Ask your great-grandparents to record what they can of their experiences, if they will, for when she’s older. Otherwise, Holocaust Memorial Centres offer education weeks and survivor testimonies that you may eventually expose your daughter to, when you feel she can handle the information.     
      For an expert’s view on this age-related Holocaust education question, see http://www.chgs.umn.edu/educational/totten.html. For more information on educating older students, see the web site for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington: www.ushmm.org and check out Steven Spielberg’s Shoah project, which involved survivor testimony: www.shoaheducation.com/.     
      The Shoah Foundation Archive (shoah.rice.edu/), at the University of Southern California includes nearly 52,000 video testimonies in 32 languages from 56 countries; the archive is the largest visual history archive in the world.     
      The Institute interviewed Jewish survivors, homosexual survivors, Jehovah's Witness survivors, liberators and liberation witnesses, political prisoners, rescuers and aid providers, Roma and Sinit survivors (Gypsy), survivors of Eugenics policies, and war crimes trials participants.   

We dated for three months, broke up for two and are back together. I’m 37, divorced; he’s 40 and never married. I’ve not met his family or friends.     
      When asked why, he said he goes out with friends and their wives never come, unless there’s a big event. He said I’d meet people “when the time is right.”     
      I’m hoping he’s not embarrassed about me. He hasn’t met my friends either, as I’m stalling till I meet his.
      - Overreacting?

Taking it slow is normal for someone who’s long been single and it’s wise … especially when you two previously broke up.    
      These are still early days, so focus on getting to know him better. But do introduce him to some close friends, when a casual opportunity arises.    
      YOU still want to see him in a social setting, through the eyes of people you trust. It’s about assessing his character, not playing games of who blinks first.