When the student is willing, the teacher appears.
I cannot tell you all how this thread has helped me because it is EXACTLY what i have been struggling with the last few months since I started buying my AS lunch periodically. Yes, it is difficult to sit with someone who only has overwhelming problems to talk about. Good grief, it was difficult to listen to him tell me that his girlfriend has major complications from an STD that may render her unable to have children and, when I tell him he now has this STD, he only shrugs it off by saying, "it's not a big deal, 50% of the population have this." And Outtolunch, the biggest neutral thing to talk about is the dog!!! (maybe that's where you got your user name from?)
But then he wanted to come over to my house on Mother's Day to see me. No! That is not going to happen! I have to set that boundary as gently as possible! I am in charge of how this contact is going to go, and buying him lunch periodically is it. Like what was said above, this is only contact - not a relationship.
Thanks to everybody. Not only did you help Keepinon but you also were a tremendous help to me.