ArcaMax

Dear Annie: I have been married to "Bart" for 21 years. I knew he had issues with alcohol. He has a pattern of getting sober for a few years and then relapsing over and over. He is truly a wonderful guy, but when he drinks, he's like a different man. I feel as if I am living with Jekyll and Hyde.

I've talked to him, cried, begged and threatened...Read more

Dear Annie: Our daughter is going down a bad road, and our 13-year-old granddaughter, "Lana," is in the driver's seat.

Lana has been diagnosed with ADHD, but since we live in another state, we have no way of knowing whether she's staying on her meds. I've heard from my wife that Lana has been destroying furniture and is physically and verbally ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I recently moved to the city where my husband's family lives. One of his brothers has been married for two years. (It's his third wife.) "Pete" is a likable guy who often arranges fun activities.

Pete moved into his wife's house when they married. She had a teenage daughter, a dog and a cat. Pete got rid of all three....Read more

Dear Annie: Two years ago, I caught my husband having an emotional affair with a friend of ours. Even though we went through counseling and he told me he was no longer in contact with her, he lied. He continued to lie for almost a year, even during our counseling sessions. In one session, he tried to blame me for his actions, and after six ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a 56-year-old male dating a woman with a 13-year-old son. We plan to marry in the near future.

The boy has no relationship with his father and is very fond of me, as I am of him. The problem is that he's a mama's boy. I think he is jealous of me. He competes for his mother's attention and goes so far as to crawl into bed with ...Read more

ADear Annie: I am a 50-year-old adoptee. About 10 years ago, I was finally able to locate my biological mother. It took me months to work up the nerve to phone her, and the call was a nightmare.

Her first words were, "How did you find me? I was told nobody would ever know." That was followed by, "What do you want from me?" I explained that the ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been married to "Barry" for 20 years. Even though we live several hours from his mother, she controls many of our family's decisions.

My mother-in-law is our only living parent. I have tried many times to please her, without success. I often have the family over to our home and invite them to our summer cottage. I plan ...Read more

Dear Annie: My ex-husband and I have been divorced for three years. It was his idea. He cheated on me with several women.

His family, however, was extremely cruel, calling me all kinds of names and telling me I was a terrible mother and the worst thing that ever happened to them. Now they won't speak to me. I was hurt and shocked by their ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a divorced father of two teenagers. Their mother and I have maintained a good relationship when it comes to raising the children.

However, an issue has now come up. Since my divorce, I have enjoyed international travel to the Caribbean. My children have seen many pictures and heard my stories and are very interested in ...Read more

Dear Annie: My sister-in-law, "Nina," is my husband's only sibling. She is divorced with grown children.

Nina appears to be sweet to most people, but she can get pretty ugly, especially when she drinks. She has ruined more than one occasion with her offensive outbursts, often directed at members of my family. She says these horrid things in ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a 22-year-old adoptee. My grandparents raised me from 6 months old and officially adopted me when I was 10. They have three sons -- my biological father and his two brothers. This is where the problem lies.

My "uncles" have never accepted that their parents are my parents. They never refer to me as their sister and frequently ...Read more

Dear Annie: I was diagnosed with depression more than 20 years ago. When I was in high school, I was hospitalized for close to a year. Because money and insurance have been sporadic, I have been on and off of medication. Plus, once I get on a good medication, I start feeling that I don't need it anymore. Last year, my husband lost his job, so I ...Read more

Dear Readers: Happy New Year. We hope 2023 will be the best year ever for each and every one of you. May you be blessed with good health, close family, kind friends, love and laughter. We hope you will make this the year you vow to be kinder and more compassionate so you can help the world become a better place in which to live.

In honor of the...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I lived with a very dysfunctional situation for several years. His children from a prior marriage were encouraged by their mother to tell falsehoods about our home life. She was planning to leave the state and needed full custody in order to take them, and she ultimately accomplished this.

We went to counseling and ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been friends with "Jon" for seven years. For three of those, we dated and lived together. In the end, we decided we didn't work as a couple and decided to remain friends. Jon is rather arrogant, and even though he has always been there for me, he also has occasionally taken advantage of our friendship.

I began seeing "Dennis"...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for 23 years, and we have two teenage daughters. Our biggest issue is disciplining the kids. I think they should do more household chores. My husband agrees in theory, but does nothing to hold them accountable when they don't cooperate, so the burden of discipline falls on me.

I'm sick of being the...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a fortunate mother of four beautiful little girls, all under the age of 8. While I am not overweight, I could be in better shape.

How do I handle strangers and distant acquaintances who approach me and ask me when my baby is due? I do have a little bit of a belly, but it is quite a stretch to assume that I am pregnant. I find ...Read more

Dear Annie: My friend "Rachel" is very dear to me. We've been best friends since the 11th grade. Now that we've entered the adult world, however, she's encountered some difficult situations. She had a drug problem, has always had family problems, lost her license, owes back taxes and has been unemployed for a year.

Rachel has two male roommates...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been dating "Stan" for five years. We are both in our 60s. When we started dating, I was absolutely certain that I did not want to get married. But Stan and I have been through so much these past few years with various illnesses and the like. We have always stood by each other, and I have come to realize that I would like to ...Read more

Dear Readers: Merry Christmas. We hope those who are celebrating this holiday are fortunate enough to enjoy it with family and friends. A few years ago, we printed a prayer that a reader sent in, author unknown. Since then, we've received several requests to reprint it, so here it is once again:

A Christmas Prayer

Let us pray...

That strength...Read more