ArcaMax

DEAR HARRIETTE: My friend owes me $8,000 and hasn't been able to pay me back for a year. I have been asking her for so long, and every response I get is her telling me she will have it for me "soon." I loaned this money to her a year ago, and she moved to the state I am also located in. She used the money for her security deposit, first month's ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My lovely sister, Grace, married a man who is difficult. Keith is loud, often inebriated, and quick to anger. So much so, that after a misunderstanding at Grace and Keith's wedding rehearsal dinner, harsh words were screamed, and Keith challenged my husband, Jason, to a fistfight.

He issued a pretty weak apology, and for my ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been divorced for three years and share custody of my two children, ages 10 and 13. My ex-husband remarried about a year ago, and his wife is kind, involved and genuinely seems to care about my children. I know that is something to be grateful for.

The problem is that lately I feel as though she is trying to become their ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband, "Dirk," cheated on me more than 20 years ago. He has kept in touch with the woman since then. Sixteen months ago, she told him she was "in a bad place." He offered to let this (married) woman move in with us and didn't tell me until two weeks before she got here.

Abby, this woman lives like a pig. Her room is filthy, and ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I feel like I wasted my whole life putting my husband's and children's needs in front of my own. I didn't accomplish the things that young me set out to do. I am now 63 years old and disappointed that I let the idea that I had to have a family put me into a situation where I now am dissatisfied with the way I lived my life. I ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I work in a public middle school and am a licensed teacher. It is a matter of course that adults refer to each other as Mr. or Mrs. Smith, especially in front of students or when referring to adults in their conversation with students.

My issue is with an aide, who continually addresses me by my first name in front of ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have a close friend I have known for more than 20 years. We have been through marriages, children, job changes and plenty of ups and downs together. I love her and consider her almost like family.

Lately, though, I have started to notice that our friendship feels very one-sided. I am usually the one who calls, makes plans and ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My mom died of extreme old age recently. She was a sweet woman everyone loved. I sent invitations to her memorial, and I'm getting a lot of excuses for why my friends can't attend. I am upset.

In my circle of friends (all similar ages), I was the last to graduate, get a career job, start a relationship, buy a house, be married and so...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I am helping my husband pay off his $50,000 college debt, but I feel like he isn't grateful, more like it's something expected of me to do for him. I worked extremely hard to come out of college with no debt just for me to pay off somebody else's, so it feels like it was all for nothing. A lot of my paycheck goes to his college ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My daughter and I could use a refresher course in how to answer the seemingly endless questions regarding her marital status.

She is a 23-year-old full-time college student, happy in a relationship, and not terribly interested in getting married yet. But more and more she is enduring "the question" from seemingly well-meaning...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I absolutely adore our grandchildren, and spending time with them is one of the great joys of our lives. The problem is that our son and daughter-in-law have very different parenting styles, and we keep finding ourselves caught in the middle.

Our son is much more relaxed about things like bedtime, sweets and screen ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: You sometimes ask readers to share their pet peeves. I am a public school teacher, and here is mine: Parents wonder why their children misbehave, argue with them and act out with attention-getting behaviors. My advice to them: Put down those cellphones and pay attention to your kids!

I just had a conference with a mother whose ...Read more

I remember picking up my first campaign check from the P.O. box I had rented. I knew the name: a gruff older man in the community who had stopped me at a social function to ask if I was indeed running for office. Now I held his writing in my hands, a small bid for support in a realm I had very little experience in.

There's energy in that ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have a best friend whom I love dearly, and we have been close for years. She is funny, generous and has been there for me during some difficult times. But lately I have noticed a pattern that is starting to wear on me.

Whenever I try to tell her something about my life, she interrupts before I can finish and somehow turns the ...Read more