ArcaMax

DEAR ABBY: I own a lake cabin and enjoy hosting friends and relatives. Even though I don't have a pet myself, I like animals and don't mind if people ask to bring their dogs, because the ground floor is linoleum that's easy to clean when the inevitable sand and water get tracked in.

Last year, I invited my niece and her husband to spend the ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My 18-year-old stepdaughter has decided to date another female. She has dated boys in the past, but that's not the issue. We have nothing against the LGBTQ community. (My husband's brother is gay.) My issue is, should my stepdaughter spend time with her girlfriend in her bedroom with the door closed?

If this were a boy, my husband ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: A year ago, I met a wonderful man on a cruise. We hit it off fabulously, and since we live 1,000 miles apart, we stay in touch primarily by phone -- talking and video chatting. He has come to visit me four times in the past year, and we have taken two trips together. He has met my friends and neighbors and has spoken to my family on ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I are both in our mid-50s. Due to a medical issue she has, we rarely have sex. I don't really think about it very often anymore. Meanwhile, I have a friend, "Edie." We have been friends for a good few years now. I met her in my side job as a handyman. She's in her 80s. My wife has met Edie and calls her my "girlfriend" in ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: A longtime neighbor and friend has accused me of stealing a ring. I had been providing her with transportation to visit her husband while he was in rehab recovering from a broken leg. I also took her on other errands.

One day, she was upset. She told me she had lost a bunched-up handkerchief that held something important, but wouldn'...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My "best friend," as he has labeled our relationship, moved in with me eight months ago. He claims to have no romantic feelings for me. Despite this, he sleeps in my bed next to me and kisses me. (He claims to be asleep when he does it and says he doesn't remember it happening.) He encourages us to be sexually intimate and texts me ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Some relatives come once or twice a year from out of state to stay at my in-laws' house. For the past 20-plus years, it has been the same routine. They show up, but we never know ahead of time when or how long they are staying. We are expected to drop everything to go over there to visit with them as long as they are in town. There ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I recently attended a funeral for a family member. During the 90-minute service, my great-nieces and nephews (ages 3 to 6) were running around the church. Their parents said nothing and allowed them to continue.

Following the service, we were all invited to a sit-down meal in the banquet room of an upscale restaurant. Again, the ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am dating an older man with two ex-wives. I have met both of them. I don't mind them. The last ex-wife and I get along. She usually calls me because he won't answer his phone for her. The first ex-wife I don't like at all (I used to talk to her) because she's lied to me about him.

This woman has her kids call and tell him to call ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My older sister had an affair with an old boyfriend that lasted several months. She was 58 and had been married for 38 years. Her husband, who is a wonderful person and father of their three grown children, forgave her. He's a devout Catholic, and divorce was out of the question. She has made every effort to ask for forgiveness from ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: "Missing My Cat in Georgia" (June 20) was told by his Catholic friend that his cat wouldn't be joining him in the afterlife. I have been an ordained pastor for 27 years.

Last summer my cat, Fred, who had been with me for 11 years, died. I claim no deeper or higher connection to God than anyone else, but I do know this: The Bible says...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My fiance and I have been together for 14 years. A few months ago, his mother told us she had inherited a home that had belonged to her parents, and she wanted to gift it to us. I was skeptical because any gift from her comes with tons of strings attached.

We were told it would take a few months to get the paperwork in order, so in ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been talking to a man for a little more than a year. Things are wonderful between us, but he doesn't seem to want to make a commitment. It's not that I feel he's using me for sex, because he shows me off to his friends, we go out together and he texts or calls daily.

He's kind, and I don't have a single bad thing to say about ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband's uncle died by suicide in his home six months ago. It was a shock to the entire family. Since the funeral, we have helped to settle his affairs, including cleaning out his home to get it ready for sale.

My husband's cousin (the uncle's daughter) has had an understandably difficult time coming to terms with the loss of her...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been in love with a married man for more than 16 years. It started before he married, but I was married at the time, so he married her. He always told me he wouldn't leave his wife, but I hoped he would.

Three weeks ago, I told him I could no longer go on this way and to have a great life. Two weeks later, he emailed me asking...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm a gay man who is best friends with "Carl," a man who is straight. We are everything you'd expect of a normal friendship. On a surface level, there is no difference. He goes well out of his way to make me feel welcomed and accepted, and I appreciate it.

Recently, Carl found a significant other. I'm happy for him, because he really...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My sister-in-law "Bethany" has been diagnosed with PTSD from her military service. For the past 15 years, Bethany has picked fights with my wife, her sister, over anything and everything. She feels my wife "changed" after she married me.

Bethany didn't like how we treated their father after we moved in four years ago so we could take...Read more

DEAR ABBY: When I came out of my introvert shell, I began trying to find a relationship. I went on a few dating websites and met some great guys and some not-so-great guys. One of the latter had been giving me red flags since our first date. We clicked at first and shared many of the same interests and hobbies, but he wanted to move WAY too fast...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I live in an apartment building. I am quiet and keep to myself. There's a concierge here who is incredibly nosy. When I pick up my package, she asks, "So, what's in the package?" as if I'm doing something nefarious. She's also a terrible gossip and a liar.

At the front desk, as well as to management, she has accused me of doing ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm a single mother of two children, an 8-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. My daughter's father is involved; my son's father is not. I was diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) when my daughter was born and given two weeks to live. My condition has markedly improved, and I am on the best treatment there is for it...Read more