ArcaMax

Dear Real Mother: Unfortunately, I feel that the real pathology here is your holding onto an obviously hallucinatory statement made under extreme circumstances 15 years ago.

I don't know if you have ever been hospitalized and recovered from a major operation using anesthesia, but I have seen people hallucinate and suffer from delirium while in the grip of "ICU psychosis." My own children were completely loopy after only getting their wisdom teeth extracted. (One seemed to think that our dog, Calvin, would be driving her home from the dental office.)

I don't think your son's reaction while emerging from anesthesia is out of the ordinary. I do think that you were traumatized by watching your son suffer and skate so close to death.

Please, do yourself and your family a favor and bring this up with your son. I hope you can temper your reaction to this enough so that you will understand that he didn't know what he was saying and likely has no memory of it. I hope a reassuring hug and an "I love you, Mom," will allow you to finally close the book on this strange chapter in your emotional life. Holding on to this is not good for your own health. Find a way to let it go.

Dear Amy: My first girlfriend, "Annie," and I went out for two months.

Then I found out that Annie cheated on me with another guy. They were at a bar, drinking and laughing.

I broke up with Annie, and I never went back to her.

Last month, I met a pretty girl, "Rebecca," who is a warm and kindhearted person.

We hit it off right away. Yesterday, I saw her with another guy at a shopping mall.

I'm afraid that I'm being cheated on again.

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