ArcaMax

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I recently hosted some longtime friends for a few days while they were passing through our area on vacation. We had a fine time reconnecting, although my wife commented after they left that they seemed to have slowed down a bit -- to which I responded, Yeah. Us, too, I guess.

We just received an email from that couple'...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been in a relationship for more than five years. My girlfriend and I will soon graduate from college. I have accepted a full-time job offer, and she will be going to grad school.

Almost certainly our relationship will have to be long-distance for a year or two, and she has given me an ultimatum. She says she doesn't want the ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am a 49-year-old woman whose mother tries to make me feel guilty for having a good relationship with my father. I have an excellent relationship with her, but lately it feels strained because she gets mad if Dad and I do things together or even just talk on the phone. My goal is not to hurt her, but I refuse not to have a ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have shared a friendship for 40 years with a woman who is known for having a quick temper. Although I have been on the receiving end of her anger many times, we manage to maintain our relationship.

She lives across the country now and, unfortunately, suffers from a major debilitating illness. She lives with a man she argues with ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I was molested by my sister's husband in 1959. I was 5 years old. Growing up in the late '50s and '60s, sexual abuse was never discussed in my parents' home. It just wasn't done then. Of course, my brother-in-law told me it was our little secret.

This has affected my entire life. I didn't get counseling for it because I didn't ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: One of our daughters (18) has been rebelling for the last couple of years. She's not doing well in community college. She is dating a drug user and has been caught in lie after lie, including about spending the night at friends' homes.

She has now decided she no longer wants to live with our rules, which include staying enrolled in ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I work in a small office with five other people. Due to the nature of our business, we work various shifts throughout the day.

I am the oldest employee, and when it comes to our schedule, I feel discriminated against. I usually get four night shifts and one day shift a week. Everyone else gets one night shift and the rest daytime ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: At 18, I married my high school sweetheart. After 20 years of marriage and four wonderful children, my husband decided the grass was greener elsewhere, and we divorced. He paid no attention to my children or my grandchildren when they were young.

He has since remarried, has a child with his current wife and acts like he's Father of ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have a very toxic relationship with my older sister. I still live at home, although I'll be leaving for college in a few years.

Abby, she has been emotionally abusing me for years. It got so bad at one point that I considered suicide. I don't believe I would ever go through with it, but it scared me. She makes sarcastic comments ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I married in our early 40s. I have given my all to her, but I have always felt underappreciated.

I always wanted to be a father, but she didn't want to have kids. After we were together for a few years, she changed her mind, so we decided to try for a child and were surprised to discover after only a week of trying that ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: One of my sons is dating a young woman who seems to care deeply for him, but is very cool and distant to our family. He goes to nearly all of her family's events, but she seldom comes to any of ours.

She has been to one birthday get-together at a restaurant, a wedding and a play where I bought the tickets for her, myself and all my ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband works with a group of men who often become vulgar in their conversations. My husband was raised to have respect and dignity, so he is uncomfortable with it.

The men discuss their wives and girlfriends in explicit detail. Some of them have daughters. It is just insane! Would they want someone talking about their daughters ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My widowed mother-in-law, Minnie, works full time as a trucker, traveling around the U.S. She doesn't have a home of her own since she lives on the road. My husband and I live in a small one-bedroom apartment. When she's here for holidays or family functions, she always sleeps on our couch.

At first I didn't mind once or twice for ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am a woman in my 30s with a good head on my shoulders, but I have a dilemma. I recently became Wiccan, and I'm hiding my new religion from my fiance.

I was raised Protestant but have drifted away from Christianity. My fiance was raised Catholic but no longer practices. He's not actively involved in any religion, but I'm worried ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My 40-year-old son has been in a volatile on-again, off-again relationship with a woman who has physically and emotionally abused him repeatedly. He's an Iraq War veteran with issues of his own, including a previous marriage and messy divorce from a narcissistic woman. They share custody of two grade school-age children. The current ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I recently celebrated our first anniversary and have decided we're ready to start a family. Our first month of trying has not been successful. My newly engaged cousin has just announced her wedding date. If our second month of trying is successful, my due date will fall just two days prior to their wedding.

I'm ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I've been thinking about suicide a lot lately, more than usual. I'm not angry about anything, just in pain. I keep getting knocked down after I try so hard to pick myself up. I tried calling a hotline, gave up on that. (I guess they're busy.) I can't afford doctors and psychiatrists.

The weather's changing, and I don't do well in the...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I moved in with my boyfriend, Greg, three years ago into the tiny but very economical house he rents. It's cheaper than all other rentals in our area and allows us to save for a home of our own one day. However, after many months, I have discovered to my dismay that our landlord is the mother of his ex-girlfriend. And the ex is acting...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am in a 14-year marriage, but there has always been another woman, Emily, I have thought about almost daily the whole time. My wife and I have just turned 40. We have no kids, but we have a dog. I always thought I would want kids, and we tried half-heartedly, but there is no real intimacy to this day. I kiss her goodbye in the ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I very much wanted a child and used an egg donor to become parents. We are eternally grateful to the semi-anonymous donor (we have limited information on her) and love our 11-year-old son more than anything. We have told him that I needed help (for example, lots of shots) to become pregnant, but have not given him more ...Read more