ArcaMax

Dear Upset: This man telegraphed that he would disappear. Depressed people tend to "go to ground" when they're not feeling well. He told you this would happen, and asked you not to take it personally. I hope you won't.

You only knew him for six weeks. Granted, it was an intense six weeks, filled with hours of conversations and video calls, but you have never known him through a depressed cycle.

I must also point out the obvious -- that this man might not be at all who or what you think he is. Your own desires and beliefs may have helped to create an alternate reality. If you've ever watched the documentary series "Catfish," you will know the risks of conducting online-only relationships.

Give yourself six weeks to adjust. Tell yourself, "I accept that he is gone." Fill your time with healthy pursuits. Embrace this as a learning experience and ask yourself: if he contacts you again, do you want to hop back onto this roller coaster?

Dear Amy: My mother and I have what I think is a good relationship. We have normal ups and downs, but never long fights.

I don't ask her for anything regarding money (unlike my siblings).

I live about an hour away from my mother and we usually plan to get together for a meal at least monthly.

Every time I ask her to get together, she invites my siblings to come along.

I love my siblings dearly, but they are busy with their own lives and they work full time and are at my mother's beck and call because they live in close proximity to her.

My siblings and I joke about how they are the "buffer" for my mother and me. We are all baffled as to why my mother absolutely insists that they join us whenever I ask her to get together.

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