just a quickie, cory. you said
"Not to sound conceited, but through my adult years I've had attention from men and I feel that it isn't a big deal to me now because I've had those days of going out and getting attention."
IMO, men are dogs. They don't look at you with real admiration but with lust. I had loads of that and mistook it for something important. There are very few REALLY good men & you're lucky if you got one of them.
If you want to measure a real compliment, listen to the women in your life. Find the ones who are jealous of you. listen to the doctors who are amazed at your physique. These are real. Like it or not, women compete for men, just as men compete for women.
I've had a few good men in my life and my son is such a good guy, I wish he could find a substantial mate among his generation. All his women have been beautiful, but stupid & unfair & passive-aggressive. His late father, however, was a dog disguised as a ray of sunshine. So cute, so kind, so vulnerable, such a hard worker. But he was cheating with me on a wife I didn't even know he had. I didn't even find out until he lured me 2,000 miles away from home on a promise of marriage. Later he showed himself as a drunk and physically abused me twice--once when I was very pregnant.
My kid is nothing like that, but it is REALLY hard to find a good man. I will never marry again (a huge percentage of available men were killed in Vietnam and the ones who came back were drug addicts & crazies who got veteran preference, then shot up post offices in the 1980s and 1990s, as you will recall). But I believe if you were lucky enough to get a good one and you both know how to share & compromise, you will have no trouble at all. and that sister... she has no business drinking alcohol. But her problems are hers & I hope you can detach. My little brother was like that & he's dead now.
Trust your man & rejoice in his being! Love him up, then let him take care of you when you need it. ugh, gone on for too long. You're lucky.