ArcaMax

DEAR ABBY: My in-laws have repeatedly attempted to destroy my marriage. My husband knows they trash-talk us to family, thinking we don't know it, but he won't put up any meaningful boundaries or check them whatsoever. I have lost all respect for him because he lies to me, telling me he has confronted them, when I know for a fact he hasn't.

We ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have known "Sheila" for 30 years. We were once dear friends. She was always a social drinker. Twelve years ago, she lost her husband to cancer and began drinking increasingly heavily. Sheila's now an alcoholic. Friends and family have tried many times to help her. She went to rehab twice to appease her daughter. She tried AA but ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I see a psychiatrist and psychologist for generalized anxiety disorder, major depression disorder and borderline personality disorder. According to my doctors, my psychiatric disorders are a result of the 44 years of abuse I received from my mother, as well as the abuse she allowed others to inflict on me.

Her physical abuse stopped ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My late husband and I were married 38 years when we finally went to marriage counseling. I found out then that he had slept with my sister early in our marriage. I had suspected he'd also had an affair with his uncle's wife. (They were very close in age.) This, too, was confirmed in counseling.

My sister was recently home because of ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: We asked our 19-year-old college daughter, "Lulu," to dog-sit and housesit sit several months ago. She knew our rule of no visitors allowed in our home while we were out of town. Because of this, we didn't feel we needed to prepare the house by filing mail and documents away prior to our short trip.

Lulu had her new boyfriend of a ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been married 10 years. My husband is from another country, and the last six years haven't been easy. I've been the sole provider for our family, on the advice of our lawyer, while we were getting his paperwork complete (my husband refused to work illegally). I have stood by this man through thick and thin and endured his verbal...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have a full-time job and am in pretty good health. I have one son, "Brian," who is married and has three children. My problem is that my son is often rude to me. I was a single mom who raised him on my own. I thought I was a pretty good mother. His wife is super sensitive to any comment I make and finds fault with almost anything I ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband's 50th birthday (we're both men) is approaching, and I wanted to have a surprise party for him. His family, my family and the two of us all live in different states on the East Coast. I thought a compromise would be to have the party in New Jersey (halfway) on a Saturday. I even offered to rent an Airbnb for the weekend, ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My dear friend, "Sandra," is married with two children. She and her husband have a 4-year-old son together and another son from her husband's first marriage who is 14. The 14-year-old's life is tough, much like Cinderella's. Sandra treats him very badly. She has him doing all of the housework in their home, belittles him constantly ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My father's wife, "Carole," loves to thrift-shop. She enjoys hunting for a good deal, particularly if she can find things for our 5-year-old daughter, "Liana." It's sweet how excited she gets when she brings over a pile of new clothes.

The problem is, Carole has really different taste than my husband and I do, and most of her ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Years ago, I purchased your recipe booklet which had a very good recipe for gazpacho (no oil in the recipe).

I no longer have that booklet. Could you print the gazpacho recipe? Also, is the booklet still available? There were several other dishes in it I enjoyed preparing. Thank you. -- BRENDA B. IN BOSTON

DEAR BRENDA: I'm pleased ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married 33 years, but the last 10 years have been extremely difficult. His attitude and selfishness during that time led me to strongly resent him.

He's now telling me he has changed and things will be different, that I am important to him and he will consider my thoughts, feelings, wants and needs going ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My oldest sister has it in her head that since she's home all week, she needs to go out every Sunday. She started calling me every Saturday to invite me to accompany her, which I did a few times. In doing so, I realized she has mobility issues and the beginnings of dementia. She wants to go to these certain places where we would ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: When my first wife and I were in our early 20s, she left me for another man. It was difficult, but I worked through it, learned to trust again and remarried a few years later.

This may be hard to believe, but 46 years later, my ex-wife thought it would be a good idea to try to connect through social media. I knew how to find her if I...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm engaged to a delightful woman from a foreign country. She's a divorcee, and her 19-year-old son is doing well in college. She essentially raised him herself. Because of some spectrum disorder and ADHD symptoms, her son was apparently a handful. I am healthy, have multiple advanced degrees (including an M.D. and a Ph.D.), and have ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My cousin (more like a sister) has made some extremely rash and concerning choices over the last year. After she had her second baby, she left her husband and started seeing a series of borderline-abusive men. She's now in the process of signing full custody of the children over to her ex-husband and impulsively buying a house out of ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My fiancee and I have been arguing almost every day. We have been verbally and emotionally hurting each other. I love her very much, but she has a severe alcohol disorder, and I want her to stop drinking. She keeps begging me for money whenever she runs out of her own. She wants me to buy her more alcohol, but I refuse. She has been ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I haven't had a holiday with my grown daughter, "Charly," since she left the state 12 years ago. When she came out as a lesbian, I wasn't very accepting and didn't handle it well. I have since apologized.

Charly and her partner refuse to visit here unless I allow them to share the same bed in my house. I say they can't tell me what ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Regarding "Silver Girl in New York" (Jan. 5), whose husband is making her feel less loved because she decided to not color her hair anymore, this is her decision to make, not his. He needs to grow up.

You advised her to wear a red wig when he is feeling amorous. What were you thinking? So, she is supposed to be uncomfortable in her ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: The woman I've been married to for the last 10 years is spending her time away from home. She isn't seeing another man or hanging out in bars. She leaves at any time of the day and goes to the casino. She also plays online throughout the day or evening. She stays out all night until sometimes 8 or 9 o'clock the next morning.

I have ...Read more