ArcaMax

DEAR HARRIETTE: My parents are coming to visit me for Christmas in New York City, and I really wanted to do something nice for them by booking an Airbnb or hotel so they could have their own space and be comfortable. I tried to plan everything myself to make the visit special, but I ended up waiting too long. Now the prices are sky-high -- ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: How does one handle being offered alcohol when you choose not to drink?

I got a DUI 2 years ago, and I will NEVER drink and drive ever again. I've been in numerous situations where I've declined a kind offer of a drink, but have been pestered as to why.

Out for a happy hour with co-workers, I will just drink water, but I ...Read more

Dear Annie: In 2010, I discovered that my husband of 47 years had been in touch with a woman who he had a long and intimate relationship with before we met. She had a child three months before we met and wanted him to marry her but he refused because he had learned that she was also intimate with someone else at the same time.

When I confronted...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are retired and happy. Each of us was married before. We're not rich, but we get by without help from anyone. We have been blessed with a big family. Between us, we have six children, 15 grandchildren and a great grandchild. This does not include the in-laws, because quite a few of these offspring are now married.

I ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have been struggling with chronic fatigue for way too long. After the pandemic, I spent about four years working strictly from home. It had its pros and cons -- one of those cons being me struggling to maintain normal energy outside of my home. I guess I am no longer used to the hustle and bustle of commuting and being on high ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: What do you think about employers who let their children come around the workplace to sell goodies to their employees? And worse yet, what about when the boss himself escorts his child around the building to sell stuff?

Yeah, I know, it's always for a good cause, but isn't that putting people on the spot, and not in very good...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm at a stage in my life where personal growth has taken hold in the absence of my husband. My husband is still here and alive, but he frequently travels for work, and I am often left to my own devices for days at a time as a stay-at-home mom of two young boys. I've taken to calling these days "idle time," as if the engine of our ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: We have a mutual friend who's very dear to us. He's a kind-hearted and generous disabled vet who's too proud to ask for help. Unfortunately, due to his ill health and physical limitations, his home is unkempt. He lives among piles of dusty trash, empty cartons, unfinished projects, dirty clothes and even animal messes. It smells very ...Read more

The refrain I repeated to my daughter was that, much like filling in eyebrows with makeup, the wings lined onto each eye she was "crashing out" over could be sisters, not twins. They don't need to be identical. "But again, let's tone it down in the future. That liner isn't really a day look."

It could be a controversial take to let her ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I love each other very much, but we have grown apart for a while now. I've done my best to be a good and loving wife, yet it seems to be hard for him to give me physical affection. He says he loves me and doesn't want to be without me, yet we physically seem to be 1,000 miles away.

I try to be affectionate, but it ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Ten years ago, I connected with "Christi," a daughter I fathered with a woman I was in a relationship with for a short time decades ago. We split before Christi was born. My ex-girlfriend didn't tell me about her until after she was born. By that time, she was married to a man Christi knew as her dad. However, she no longer ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I live with my boyfriend. We rent an apartment together and split all of our expenses. I've been able to save up, and now I am interested in investing in real estate. I don't know what that means for me and my boyfriend, though. I mentioned my interest to him a few months back to see what he thinks, and he thinks real estate ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I frequently attend luncheons at which the entree consists of bagels, lox (smoked salmon) and cream cheese.

Bagels have grown in size substantially since my childhood. Nowadays, a whole bagel is too much for me, so I carefully take one half with the tongs provided. I spread it with cream cheese, then lay a slice or two of lox...Read more

Dear Annie: My daughter, 31, left home at 19 to attend university. Within weeks, she began dating a boy she'd met through the school's Facebook group. Coming from our cultural background, we weren't comfortable with relationships outside marriage, but after two years, she moved in with him, mostly on her terms. They lived together for six ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have lived in a country home for the past 25 years. When we moved here, our only neighbors were wild turkeys, deer and raccoons. Behind our house were 20 acres of woods, which extended into a cornfield. We were isolated and loved it.

Since then, a housing development has slowly been built around us. Last fall, a couple ...Read more