ArcaMax

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

DEAR ABBY: I need advice on how to discuss a sensitive matter with my son and daughter-in-law's babysitter. She watches my grandson Monday through Friday while they are at work. They live with me, and I work from home, so I am around all day while she's sitting with the baby.

Overall, she's pretty good, but we have discovered her asleep in my ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I belong to a singing group. Another member of the group is a very nice widow in her 70s everyone loves. We know she's lonely, and we have tried fixing her up with good men who are also alone. Things have never worked out.

A few months ago, a man who is an excellent pianist came into our group. He's around 40 and has a...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My niece, Vicki, will be 18 in a few days. She works part-time and has started college. Her mom, my sister, lost her husband last year.

Vicki did some research on finding herself the right pet because my sister has allergies. With her own money, Vicki purchased a little garter snake.

Unknown to us, Grandma had an incident with a ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been married for 24 years and have two daughters, 18 and 14. I'm in a business with my husband and work six days a week. We don't take vacations, go on date nights or spend time together outside of work.

I have had my own bedroom for 15 years because he needs his sleep (he is 15 years older). Our sex life ended two years ago ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have a close friend who is an extreme hoarder. She and her husband have a beautiful, large, custom-built home that is stacked floor to ceiling with clutter. There are only narrow paths to walk around. Clothes, papers, toys, etc. are piled everywhere. Normally, I would mind my own business, but they have four children at home. The ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I were getting ready to leave after dinner at a restaurant we've patronized for 15 years. I went to the ladies' room and was washing my hands when a waitress I don't care for came barging in, got in my face and started yelling at me. I tried to leave, but she wouldn't let me out of the restroom. I asked her several ...Read more