Dear Steve and Shirley,
I'm the oldest of three brothers, and I love being the big sister. I have two sisters-in-law that I love, and a total of five nieces and nephews.
It's my 28-year-old brother that's giving us all grief because he's chosen a woman that's been around the block more than a few times, and her children's father is known for shooting people that cross him.
My brother just got home from being stationed overseas, and he moved in with an old friend from high school. He started driving for a limousine service just to pass the time, and that's where he met the woman he's dating.
He told us that a wealthy man hired him to pick up this lady, and the man paid for the limo to sit outside his home until the lady was ready to leave. My brother said he was sitting in the limo waiting, and right after midnight, the door opened, and the woman was pushed out onto the porch. The man threw the woman's shoes out in the front yard.
The brother said he ran and got the lady's shoes and helped her to the car. She told my brother that the man used her for sex, and she thought he was really interested in being with her.
Now, if someone had told me that story the first time I met him, I would not try to date that person. But my brother decided to be Captain Savichick, and now he is dating the woman and taking care of her children. She is 37 and trifling AF, and she still runs the street behind my brother's back.
Both of my other brothers have tried to talk sense into him, and we all cringe when he brings this woman to family outings, and we're so afraid he's going to try to marry her because he wants a family so badly.
Why did he fall so hard for her? How do we get him to see there are better choices for him?