ArcaMax

DEAR ABBY: About 40 years ago, I did someone an injustice, and I have felt guilty ever since. I worked for a consulting firm in Washington, D.C., that fired an accounting clerk who was in my small office. I didn't know why she was fired, and I never heard a cross word exchanged between her and her supervisor. She seemed to be capable and ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I married Darius two years ago. I have had problems with my brother-in-law ever since Darius and I first began dating five years ago.

From my husband's perspective, his parents have always favored his younger brother, Adonis. Anything goes is their attitude where he is concerned. Adonis takes things without asking, lies and ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My 14-year-old daughter recently came out of the closet, and it has made my husband and me quite upset. She says she is bicurious, pansexual and polyamorous. She now insists everyone call her by a gender-neutral name, gave herself a side shave and dyed her hair pink after we repeatedly told her not to. She wants us to refer to her as ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am a single man who recently met a widow who is nine years older. We connected via an online dating site.

At the end of our three-hour conversation, she said, No man will ever share my bed. This is because of her second husband, who died six years ago. She said if a man shared her bed, she felt it would be cheating on her late ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I take care of my daughter-in-law's taxes and have for the past 15 years. I have never charged her for it. When she brings me the paperwork, it is always a mess. I told her I would be her full-time bookkeeper and charge her $300 a month, but it's like getting blood from a turnip. I have to beg her each month for my pay.

My husband ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: We live next door to an 89-year-old woman, Estelle. She's a snowbird, meaning she is our neighbor for only part of the year. She has a devoted caretaker, Iris, who visits her almost daily. Iris shops for her, brings in her mail, and helps her with laundry, bathing and many other intimate tasks.

Estelle has given us a key to her house...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am a small business owner. My store has local (repeat) and one-time customers. The other day, while checking out, one of my local customers spewed out a verbal and extremely bigoted rant. I was stunned speechless. I felt I should do something, but I wasn't sure what it should be. I have started losing sleep over it. If it happens ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My wife died unexpectedly two years ago, after 18 years of a happy marriage and two kids. While we are doing as well as can be expected, one thing seems to set my grief off. It's when someone refers to my life as my new normal.

I'm not sure I can put my finger on why this phrase bothers me so much, but if I had to guess, it's ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend of two years, Kevin, recently broke up with me. We've had problems in the past about me lying to him or withholding information. I didn't lie because I'm an awful person. I lied because he had high expectations of me, and I didn't want to be a disappointment. He is truly the first person I have loved unconditionally since...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Three months ago, my husband ran into a second cousin he hadn't seen in 40 years. They were close for a short time during high school and saw each other a couple times after that.

I was not aware until recently that he had looked her up on social media and has been communicating with her every day since then. I didn't think much of ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Is it ever too late to apologize to an ex-boyfriend? I'm in my mid-40s now, and over the last three years, I have gone through a significant change. It has helped me to face myself, let go of useless hate and anger and forgive the people who hurt me. It has made me a much happier person.

One of the results of this change is realizing...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I became pregnant with my second child in 2013. When my extended family heard the news, it was not well-received, particularly by my grandmother and aunt-in-law. They said things like, We love you, but we're embarrassed and ashamed. My once loving grandmother said some particularly cruel things.

I have to be honest -- I was angry. I ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Last year I met a special man when I hired him to do some work related to my hobby. We easily fell into a friendship and have grown very close. We currently spend all our free time together. We talk every day on the phone, sometimes for hours. We are both divorced with children. He was married for 17 years and hasn't been in a ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I live with my significant other. We have been together for 13 years now. I would like to ask his stepmother why she refuses to acknowledge me. She sends holiday cards addressed only to her stepson. I am left off invitations as if I simply do not exist. Should I confront her and tell her it hurts my feelings?

I have had a couple of ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: This may seem strange, but my husband is too nice. His late mother, a domineering woman who always got her way, trained him not to have an opinion. Almost everything he says is crafted to be neutral so that nobody can possibly take issue with him.

If I ask, What do you want for dinner? his reply is, Whatever you want. If I ask, What ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: A casual friend sent me a video of a comic doing a very lewd and vulgar routine. I was offended by it and forwarded it to my girlfriend to find out what she thought about it. She got very upset and told me I was being disrespectful to her by even passing it on to her. I should add that we met online and have been talking on the phone ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend and I are middle-aged. We have been together for 2 1/2 years. I love him, and I'm grateful for such a wonderful man at this point in my life. My problem is, he calls me Sweet Baby every single time he addresses me. (Sweet Baby, what do you need help with? Sweet Baby, I am on my way. What did you say, Sweet Baby?) Even ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have come into contact with my first and forever love again after 30 years. We have had a few encounters throughout the years. When they happened, we fell right back into our comfort zone.

We both have current relationships with others that are not satisfying. We have both had failed relationships as well. No relationship I have ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: After using online dating for almost a year, I have met someone, and it's getting serious. Problem is, during some of our first conversations, he talked about his previous online experiences. One involved a woman who asked him for money and how stupid she must've thought he was. Another time, he told me he couldn't understand how a ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I are expecting our second child. We are facing a moral decision based on choosing his name.

My wife's cousin sadly had a late-term miscarriage two years ago. The name they were going to give their baby is coincidentally the same first and middle name that we have chosen for our child. We have wanted this combination of ...Read more