Wife and mom is missing one thing: friends
Your new neighbor has the same freedom.
Having a house painted white isn't exactly pushing the boundaries of taste and design -- you've chosen the most popular house color for your own house. Surely you can't be that surprised that someone else on your street will also choose to have a white house.
Even if this was a deliberate copying of your home, you have choices about how to behave. In this case, even if you are feeling petty, slighted and frustrated, you should behave as if you feel flattered.
No, it is not tacky to paint a house white, even if your neighbor's house is also white. This might be a very good lesson for you. You seem very careful, deliberate and controlled. Other people aren't like you. Understanding and accepting this will be a good exercise in neighborliness.
Dear Amy: "Wondering" was ensnared in a family drama when visiting her close older friend. Her friend's cousins accused Wondering of coming on to male family members.
I think it's possible that these family members were trying to isolate the older woman, in hopes of receiving an inheritance. Unfortunately, I have seen this happen.
-- Wondering No More
Dear No More: This is a definite possibility. "Wondering" should take steps to try to reconnect with her friend.
========
(You can contact Amy Dickinson via email: askamy@amydickinson.com. Readers may send postal mail to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or "like" her on Facebook.)
