Article posted Tuesday, October 2, 2012 2:45pm

Dear Mary Pat,

My heart is broken. My ex of a few months, who is already back on the Door County dating scene, is everywhere! We have mutual, friends, hangouts, and interests. When I see him in public – especially with another girl – I feel the urge to a) Yell at him. b) Run to the bathroom crying. c) Tell everyone – especially the girls he’s dating, most often a friend or acquaintance – how much he hurt me.

Signed,

Broken Hearted

Ephraim, WI

Dear Broken Hearted,

Break ups are tough, especially in a small town. If you lived in a big city, running into your ex wouldn’t be very likely; here, it’s inevitable and it can be awkward. If you and your ex-boyfriend have broken up, it’s time to move on. If he ready to date before you are, you’ll unfortunately have to accept it. Yelling at him and crying won’t solve anything, and it’s just going to make you feel worse. And are these really good friends of yours? Everyone in the county is an acquaintance, so obviously you can’t expect him not to date anyone you know, but true friends are probably not going to date anyone you were serious with.

Here is my advice for you (stolen from my little sister about 15 years ago) get a new lipstick and get over it. This may seem harsh, however, she took her own advice back then and never looked back. She was dating a great guy for over a year when he broke up with her out of the blue. Our theory was that he thought she was out of his league and that she would eventually ditch him, but that wasn’t the case. She loved him and the break-up left her blindsided…for about eight hours. She cried herself to sleep and upon waking up reflected that it was his loss. She went out, got a new shade of lipstick and moved on. He realized almost right away that he made a mistake and tried to win her back a couple of weeks later. Unfortunately for him, she was already over it. Around that time she met the man who is now her husband and who turned out to be an even greater guy. I’m not suggesting that if you change your lipstick shade, you’ll be married within the year. What I am suggesting is that you move on, even though it’s hard to do. Let go of the past and look forward to what’s coming up ahead.

Good luck,

Mary Pat