ArcaMax

Dear Annie: I have a friend who, over the years, has been a lovely person. But for the past two years, she has totally forgotten my birthday. She always used to remember my birthday with sweet gestures and nice surprises that were incredible remembrances. I have also celebrated her birthday, plus other holidays, such as Valentine's Day, with ...Read more

Dear Amy: My boyfriend and I have been together for about four years, and I'm ready to move on.

He doesn't work and has been dealing with some long-term health issues.

If I asked him to move out, he wouldn't be able to support himself. He can file for disability, but he doesn't. He doesn't do anything to take care of himself.

I've tried to ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have three sisters who won't come to visit me. I am older and their only brother. We are all in our 50s. We all get along great and have no issues.

Seven years ago, I moved away from our hometown in Pennsylvania and bought houses in vacation towns in Colorado and Arizona. I would never see my sisters if I didn't make the trip back ...Read more

Dear Annie: A close friend of mine is a successful professional woman who went through a painful divorce several years ago when her husband was unfaithful. "Diane" swore off dating for a long time.

A year ago, Diane began seeing a man who is also a successful, well-known professional from our community. However, this man has a history of ...Read more

Adapted from a recent online discussion.

Dear Carolyn:

My husband and I are late-20s and expecting a baby girl. For professional and personal reasons, my husband and I both kept our own last names. My father-in-law, ["Phil"], has absolutely lost it upon learning that we plan to hyphenate the baby's last name, reportedly crying and fuming ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I are both in our mid-80s, and we are beginning to experience health issues. We have four children from his former marriage. We have been married for 48 years. I have always expected to go to a nursing home when my health declines to that point. My husband vehemently says he will never go to one. I do know that once ...Read more

Dear Amy: I am the father of three kids, all boys ranging in age from 11 to 17.

The two oldest boys share a room in our unattached guesthouse, my youngest son's room is in the main house.

Recently, my in-laws came to stay with us for a week. We moved them to the guesthouse. While the boys were not thrilled, they reluctantly cleaned up and ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband is retired. Except for golf a few times a week, he's home all the time. He has taken to looking at porn a lot when he is home, including pictures and reading racy stories.

When I come home from work, he's on the computer. I'm very uncomfortable with it, and I have told him so. He says I should join him looking at the ...Read more

Dear Annie: My 4-year-old granddaughter, "Jill," visited recently and declared, "My mommy told me to watch what I eat because she doesn't want me get heavy." Jill is certainly not heavy, and I was appalled that she was being told such a thing. I assured her that she is perfect.

My son is divorced from Jill's mother. He informed me that his ex...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband passed away seven years ago from complications from Alzheimer's disease. We had very dear friends whom we went everywhere with -- church, movies, plays, vacations. The husband of my friend also had Alzheimer's, and he passed away a year and a half later. The two of us bonded even more and went to church, out to eat, etc....Read more

Dear Amy: I have two adult sons. Their father (my ex) remarried (to "Barbara") several years ago.

Our family has now grown to include wonderful daughters-in-laws and grandchildren.

My boys' dad and I get along well. We celebrate holidays, events and family milestones together.

What is baffling is that, increasingly, I run into people who have...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I recently started dating a man who, until now, has been everything I wanted -- respectful, kind, caring, funny, the list goes on. He's recently divorced, and from what I know, he was unfaithful to his wife with many long-term side partners. Later, he started having one-night stands.

He travels a lot for work, and because I had a ...Read more

Dear Annie: When I was 11 years old, I made an insulting remark to one of my older sister's teenage friends, teasing her about her acne. The next day, my mother loudly confronted me about it, and my grandmother and sister joined in. For the next several months, if I said anything my mother didn't like, she'd angrily remind me of the horrible ...Read more

Adapted from a recent online discussion.

Hi, Carolyn:

My husband's sister, "Kate," is expecting her second child. They have a 3-year-old girl. My husband and I have two girls, 8 and 6. At our house this week, Kate talked extensively about her hopes that this next baby is a boy. Some of her reasons are cultural -- her husband comes from an ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have a very sensitive office environment problem. My office mate smells, and the smell permeates the entire office and even gets stuck to my clothes. And I'm not the only one who can smell it. Other co-workers have noticed it, too. I think it's a matter of not changing clothes enough or not bathing well or often enough. She is ...Read more

Dear Amy: My husband and I adopted my nephew when he was a baby. My husband was reluctant, and has never allowed me to forget how unhappy he has been about it.

Our nephew/son recently turned 18.

We have many issues with him, due to mental illness, low IQ and teenage angst. He refused to attend school for this last year and a half. I enrolled ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, Chris, and I were planning on moving in together. We went apartment hunting and created a realistic budget we could both maintain. He was the one who brought up the idea and also the one who pushed it.

Chris is an only child. His parents love him so much I think they will do anything to keep him in their house for as ...Read more

Dear Annie: Did you know that an estimated 16 million youth participate in volunteer activities in the U.S. every year, and that by volunteering, these young people will perform better in school? These amazing kids do everything from collecting stuffed animals for children who are victims of tragedy to creating sustainable gardens in urban ...Read more

Adapted from a recent online discussion.

Dear Carolyn:

This week I was in a discussion with a bunch of other third-grade parents about what our kids know about sex. The vast majority of these parents said their children were "clueless" and they wanted to maintain their kids' innocence. I was one of the few people who had even had ...Read more