Dear Annie: I’m 65, and my boyfriend is 70. We’ve been in an on-again, off-again relationship for more than eight years. I met him online six months after my divorce from my spouse of 32 years. He told me he had been divorced 25 years and had never remarried, only for me to find out that he had been briefly married a second time (when critically ill in the hospital).

In the beginning of our relationship, I never met his family. At times, he wouldn’t call for days, and I suspected he may have been seeing another woman, so I broke up with him a few times, once for three years.

During that time, he would call periodically and beg me to reconcile with him. We’ve been back together for almost two years, and things are different. I’ve met members of his family; he attends my family events; and he never misses a day without calling me several times, which includes a phone call before going to bed.

He has taken me on many nice, all-expenses-paid vacations, helped me move and paid my moving expenses. He’s always willing to help me in any way he can. While things are better now in our relationship, I still don’t totally trust him.

I truly love this man and every day he tells me he loves me. And yet, he does not want to cohabitate or marry me. For an entire year, he told me he would move in with me after his lease was up but then told me he had changed his mind and moved into a new apartment. When I asked him for a reason for his decision, he got very angry with me and said, “Maybe try to find someone else to live with.” Even though he later apologized for making that statement, it hurt me deeply.

It’s probably important to mention that we live in neighboring states — only about an hour’s drive away. We saw each other more often before the COVID-19 pandemic, and now we only see each other about once a month. He also has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which seems to be getting worse over the years. I live in a two-story home. I’ve wondered if these were reasons for his decision that he just didn’t want to share with me.

My dilemma is this: I really want to get married again. I absolutely hate living alone. I get lonely and don’t want to spend whatever time I have left living alone.

I’ve explained this to him and feel it’s unfair to me that we can’t even have a conversation about it without him getting angry. Annie, am I just being impatient, or am I right to feel that I should move on and seek a man who also hates living alone and wants to be married as much as I do? — Am I Wasting My Precious Time?

Dear AIWMPT: It sounds like you’re looking for more than this man can give you. That doesn’t make either of you wrong, but it might make you wrong for each other. If you expect him to wake up one day and suddenly want to get married, you’re being unrealistic and setting yourself up for disappointment and, eventually, bitter resentment. End things now while you can do so amicably, and look for someone whose capacity for companionship is closer to your own.

“Ask Me Anything: A Year of Advice From Dear Annie” is out now. Annie Lane’s debut book — featuring favorite columns on love, friendship, family and etiquette — is available as a paperback and e-book. Go to http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.