welcome to the forum, makeitreal! how should we call you, it's kinda long

well, if you ask me...you are the one spending your future with someone. family will still be family but your brother has to understand that you have a life of your own and whatever you do, you are not to blame others but yourself, you're not a kid anymore.

the problem with your brother is the same i have with my mom, she's old school. separated women dont have rights to love again in her world. she looks down on US when we entertain suitors it's hard but sometimes i tell her, im not like her who chose to stay alone after my father died even if she had a lot of suitors. i dont wanna be alone and i want to be with someone i really love. i always tell her--you wont know unless you give it a chance. a lot of people had success with their second chance, right?

and sometimes we have to take that step, for it might be the only one for us and we might lose it if we just listen to other people instead of our hearts.

if it makes you happy, it cant be that bad give it a chance and it's really up to you to judge if it feels right or not.