ArcaMax

Dear Annie: As a college student with no job, I made the foolish decision to sign a lease with a friend to move in together.

After she made the down payment, I realized there was no way I could afford it and backed out of the lease, leaving my friend about $675 in the hole. She was naturally upset, and my stupid and selfish act basically ...Read more

Dear Amy: My wife and I have been together for 15 years. We have three children.

I would describe our marriage as normal; we've gotten into arguments, but things always tend to bounce back to normal after a few days. There has not been any abuse of any kind. Our house is a healthy one.

We agree on all the major topics, such as politics, ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are proud parents of our first child, a girl. Despite his excitement and pride, her arrival has caused his childhood sexual abuse by his stepfather to resurface with more detail than he previously remembered. It has reached the point that if he isn't thinking about suicide, he's grilling me for reasons why I love him,...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband of 28 years has been having long, intimate text conversations with his father's hospice nurse for several months while they both are caring for my dying father-in-law. My husband does this for hours every day.

I have told them that I would like one of them to stop working with my father-in-law. Neither has been willing....Read more

Adapted from a recent online discussion.

Dear Carolyn:

My boyfriend and I hosted a party, our first joint hosting stint since moving in together a few months ago. The party was his idea, and most of our guests were his close friends.

Yet he did almost nothing to help me get ready for the party. We split up the tasks beforehand, but he "ran...Read more

Dear Annie: I am seeking some advice. I have a disability, and my place of employment is discriminating against me based on that disability. I finally filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and waited. Having heard nothing, I phoned just to make sure the EEOC got the forms. After repeatedly calling, I finally had a ...Read more

Dear Amy: My boyfriend and I have lived together for four years. He is in his 20s and I am in my early 30s.

We are working and struggling to get by. I never had any problem trusting him until recently.

He suddenly started hiding his phone and going out more without me. He used to always just leave his phone lying around. I never even looked ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm dating my grammar school and high school sweetheart, Gary. We've known each other since I was 6. (I'm 33 now.) In high school we dated for nine months and were in love, but he told lies to my dad, so Dad ordered him to stay away. Now, 16 years later, after being only friends all this time, we finally both became single and got ...Read more

Dear Annie: Last week, my stepfather called me to say that my 78-year-old mother came downstairs complaining that her "brain wasn't working right" and that she was dizzy. She sat at the table for an hour before getting herself breakfast and doing the crossword puzzle. Then she asked him the same crossword question three times in three minutes....Read more

Dear Annie: I am married to a man with two children from a previous marriage. They are adults. My husband is 15 years my senior, and he married early the first time, so long story short, his children are only four and six years younger than I am. The problem is with his daughter.

She really doesn't have much of a social life and because of ...Read more

Dear Amy: I recently learned that my teenage child has befriended another teen whose father is a convicted criminal. The father is listed on the sex offender database for child pornography and offenses against minors. He also served time for burglary.

I discovered this background when my child received a package in the mail with an out-of-state...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Back in 2013, a co-worker, Jamie, and I fell in love. Both of us were married to other people, but everything felt perfect. It was a feeling I never had for anyone in my life before. Three years later, I lost my job. The day I was terminated, my wife found out I had been cheating, so I ended the affair.

I have found full-time work ...Read more

Dear Annie: My daughter-in-law tends to go to her family. She says she is uncomfortable with my son's side. She has been rude to us since she married my son, and she controls him. She threatens him if he does not do what she wants.

My daughter had a fight with my daughter-in-law four years ago, and I just woke up to the fact that my daughter-...Read more

Adapted from a recent online discussion.

Dear Carolyn:

My husband and I have a 5-year-old girl, and are not planning more children -- primarily because we are easily stressed, don't do well when sleep-deprived, and aren't really baby/toddler people. Our daughter was NOT an easy baby.

Yet, I always feel a twinge of sadness when another ...Read more

Dear Annie: I hope you can offer a solution to my dilemma. Over the Fourth of July, I hosted a party at my riverfront home. Most of the guests were my son's friends, whom I get along with, and I am always happy when they bring their kids, because then my grandbabies have little ones to play with. My issue is that for the past few years at my ...Read more

Dear Amy: My brother's girlfriend is four months pregnant. She told him that it might be his or one other man's baby. There's no way to tell who the father is, until after the baby is born.

What do I tell my 9-year-old daughter? I don't want my daughter to get excited about a new cousin, and then have to let her down.

If it's my brother's baby...Read more

Dear Amy: My brother's girlfriend is F months pregnant. She told him that it might be his or one other man's baby. There's no way to tell who the father is, until after the baby is born.

What do I tell my 9-year-old daughter? I don't want my daughter to get excited about a new cousin, and then have to let her down.

If it's my brother's baby, I...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm 22, and my boyfriend wants sex, but I absolutely do not. I don't feel sexual desire -- not at all. I'm asexual, but he refuses to believe me and insists my past relations have scarred me and that I need to get over it.

When I was 17, I was raped by my ex-boyfriend, and I admit it traumatized me. But that isn't what my problem ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband has a 12-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. We don't get to see "Emma" too often. She lives with her mother in another state, and Mom keeps her summers so packed that she cannot visit.

The problem is that this year Emma visited my father-in-law for an entire week, and he didn't once let her do anything with us....Read more