ArcaMax

Dear Annie: Last year, my best friend of 20 years married someone who comes from a very wealthy background. The wedding was beautiful. I spent hundreds of dollars on travel to get an expensive bridesmaid dress, attend the bachelorette party and go to the wedding. I tolerated the typical "let's talk my wedding to death," while my relationship ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for 11 years. My first husband died, and my grown children love "Davis" as a father.

Davis is a wonderful man who took care of his kids when they were little, while his wife moved them around the country to follow a married man with whom she was having an affair. A bitter divorce followed, after ...Read more

Dear Annie: My grandchildren are 6 and 3. My brother has a step-grandson, also age 6, from his wife's daughter.

Two years ago, at my eldest grandchild's birthday party, my brother and his wife brought this step-grandson along. He was not invited because he is an unruly child. He has a mild form of autism. Then his grandmother became upset ...Read more

Dear Annie: I come from an extended family that is mostly successful. However, one of my cousins was born mentally and physically handicapped, and the family story is that her parents have incompatible blood types. However, they had another child 10 years later, even though they claim the doctor told them not to, and this child was born ...Read more

Dear Annie: Earlier this year, I was caught up in a liability issue with my high school track coach. I had a knee injury and was being treated by a sports chiropractor, with the full approval of the superintendent of the school district. My coach, however, rejected the note from the chiropractor and caused me horrible stress and anxiety with ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am 46 years old and have one problem. I HATE sex.

Everyone, including my boyfriend of seven years, thinks there's something wrong with me. I'm sure there is, but I have hated having sex since I was first intimate. I can't believe he has stayed with me this long.

I don't like to be touched by anyone. As soon as someone gets ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband has a brother, "Bart," who is several years younger. They are not particularly close, but we socialize on holidays. Bart has two daughters, a 20-year-old and a 7-year-old, both living at home in their small town. The family has lived a fairly isolated life. Bart is a pessimistic, rather unhappy and very self-absorbed guy...Read more

Dear Annie: I live with my 55-year-old sister. "Toni" has always been a heavy drinker, but she's recently moved on to pot and Vicodin. She has started hanging around with people half her age and is obsessed with being young.

Toni will not acknowledge that she has issues. She's too busy telling everyone else what is wrong with them. I used to ...Read more

Dear Annie: You frequently print the essay "Dead at Seventeen" by John Berrio, about the dangers of reckless driving by teenagers.

I've written a version of it that addresses the growing danger posed by older drivers who should no longer be driving. For political reasons, I suspect the chance of any meaningful legislation being passed is slim...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for 20 years. He has four children with his ex-wife, who lives nearby. The divorce was not pleasant, and my husband still has a lot of resentment. Neither of us is comfortable around the ex.

So how do I explain to my 30-year-old stepdaughter, "Susie," that when we have gatherings with his kids, ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am the manager of a small business with one co-worker. For the past eight years, "Sheila" and I have gotten along fairly well. Last year, not so much. Sheila has become lazy, obnoxious and surly. She seems to have a chip on her shoulder, and her teenage kids are a nightmare (drugs, shoplifting, alcohol, sexual activities, theft, ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I are teachers and are home most of the summer. Our next-door neighbors have two toddler boys and a couple of barking dogs. They are a nice family except for the continuous noise and chaos, which is especially noticeable in the summer when windows are open. We can't enjoy coffee in the morning on our deck or a drink ...Read more

Dear Annie: Three years ago, my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and then a brain tumor. She has had numerous surgeries and treatments.

Mom is the youngest of five siblings. The whole time she has been fighting this disease, her siblings have been unsupportive. In three years, one uncle has visited twice and called twice. Another lives ...Read more

Dear Annie: We have three adult children in their 30s. The oldest two are married and have good lives. The youngest, "Moira," is a nurse and lives with her fiance, "Bud," in a town not far away. Moira and Bud like to drink. Bud hasn't had a full-time job in nearly five years. He dresses poorly, and I don't think his hygiene is particularly ...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

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: 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

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

Dear Annie: I've found a new way to get free food: dumpster diving. Several times a week, a group of us go through the supermarket dumpster at night to see what they've thrown away. Sometimes there's nothing, but other times, there's great stuff.

One night, I found nine ears of corn. Another time, it was 23 packs of chicken. I've found ...Read more

Dear Annie: It is back-to-school time for millions of young people. I am an instructor at a community college and would like to offer some suggestions to make the registration process smoother for students.

1. See the school counselor at least two weeks before registration. If you wait until registration week, the counselors will be extremely...Read more