DEAR ABBY: My parents got into an argument because my father saw my mother looking at an old photo of herself from when she was younger. (It had been sent by her cousin via text.) In it, she was sitting next to “an ex-boyfriend or friend.” My father thought it was disrespectful, but my mother didn’t agree.

Mom thought it was trivial for him to get upset since she was only 18 or 19 and the photo was taken 45 years ago. It was way before my mother had even met my father. Later, she mentioned to Dad that she remembered seeing an old picture of him and his ex-wife dressed up for a concert. He denied it, and she didn’t get upset.

She told me later she doesn’t regret receiving the picture because she no longer has romantic feelings for my father. You see, my parents are not legally married; they are just roommates splitting the bills together. I don’t know how to feel about this.

I don’t want to be involved, but they both have come to me separately expressing their feelings about it. What are your thoughts? — IN THE MIDDLE IN TEXAS

DEAR IN THE MIDDLE: I suspect that your father was less upset about the arrival of that 45-year-old photo than he is about the fact that your mother no longer has romantic feelings for him.

I also think you should stay out of this and no longer allow yourself to be put in the middle, which is what your parents are trying to do.

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Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.