So one of my closest friends has been divorced for several years. She had quite a controlling husband, and when she finally moved out she really did well at establishing herself as an independent woman (she's in her early 60's so this was a huge life change). Anyway she's been really busy, taken up various different hobbies, and seemed really happy in her new life.
About a year ago she started making noises about dating, quite a few of our friends have moved on with new relationships and I think she felt ready to move on. She met a man through a shared hobby and started to date him, but we were quite shocked at the speed at which things progressed. She seemed to go from having a couple of dates to staying over at his place for days within only a few weeks. Anyway it ended as quickly as it started, as he began trying to stop her from seeing friends, talking her out of doing some hobbies, wanting her to be with him all the time, and she felt suffocated. Thought that was the end of it.
Anyway she has been on a couple of dates since that haven't led to much, and recently announced that she's seeing this man again. She said she was going to be be careful and not let him dictate to her, yet he's already started doing exactly the same as before and she's putting up with it! She knows what we (myself and her other close friends) think of him, but do we just step back now and let her get on with it? After the marriage she had I would hate for her to end up back in the same situation, being controlled by someone and losing her independence.