Life Advice
/Health
Man Likes To Let Others Do The Heavy Lifting
DEAR ABBY: Our son plays a college sport for which he receives four complimentary tickets for each game. It works out well because there are four of us in his immediate family.
However, my husband has been asking friends of his to join us at games by offering them free tickets. Our son then must find a teammate with unused tickets and ask for ...Read more
Absentee Mother's Prognosis Prompts Different Reactions
DEAR ABBY: I was married young to my high school sweetheart. We had five children together. During that time, I joined the Air Force. After six years of marriage, I discovered my wife was cheating on me. Once I realized we couldn't reconcile, I told her I wanted a divorce and custody of the children. She agreed. It cost me my career with the ...Read more
Wife Has A New Kind Of Workout In Mind
DEAR ABBY: I've been married to the most amazing woman for 30 years. She became a personal trainer and is in incredible shape. I'm not in her kind of shape, and I can't perform too well sexually, even with ED meds. She recently asked if she could have her (sexual) needs taken care of by a young client she trains. I'm OK with it, since I'm ...Read more
Readers Detail Options For Tech-Averse Writer
DEAR ABBY: This is in response to "Love My Cheap Phone" (Aug. 28). As a millennial who has worked in retail my whole adult life, I'm tired of the excuse that the older generation can't or won't use smartphones.
Personal computers have been out for decades, and smartphones have been around more than 16 years. Like the automatic transmission, ...Read more
Boyfriend's Bad Advice Proves Costly To Woman
DEAR ABBY: I went to visit a man I was dating and there was no visitor parking available. He told me to park in any space, even though there were signs stating non-residents would be towed. He said not to worry about it, that I'd be there only a few hours. Suffice it to say, I got towed.
He did drive me to the tow yard to retrieve my car, but ...Read more
Widow Navigates Change In Relations With Former In-Laws
DEAR ABBY: My husband passed away four years ago. I started dating my current beau two years ago. We are great friends. We are supportive of each other and enjoy our new life together.
I have drifted apart from my late husband's side of the family. We're still friendly but don't have as frequent contact as we used to because we all live great ...Read more
Siblings Discover They're Incompatible As Roommates
DEAR ABBY: I'm 20, and I recently moved into an apartment with my 19-year-old sister. I thought it would be a great idea because we'd get to see each other more often and we'd be more comfortable living together than with strangers. Recently, however, she has gotten a new boyfriend she brings over all the time.
I don't like people. Having him ...Read more
Wife's Admissions Damage Husband's Trust In Her Word
DEAR ABBY: I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 30 years. Recently, she shared details of two infidelities that she had with other men.
The first was with an individual on the staff of our church who held himself out to be my friend. My wife says it was an unprovoked attack, where he forced himself upon her. But when I asked why...Read more
Sister Has A Penchant For Telling Tall Tales
DEAR ABBY: Over the years, my younger sister, "Hannah," has been lying about some significant things, such as: She claims she was there alone with our dad when he died; that our older sister tried to talk her into signing herself into a state mental hospital; that my boyfriend was imaginary, etc.
Her most recent fabrication, told to an elderly ...Read more
Teen's Wardrobe Choices Are Too Much For One Mom
DEAR ABBY: I am a fairly laid-back mom of a wonderful 13-year-old daughter. Her friends are nice kids, but some of them dress pretty provocatively. I have seen them wear super-short shorts that are very "cheeky" and tops that really expose their assets.
We have been invited to a party at a friend's home, and my daughter is allowed to bring a ...Read more
Boss Has Taken Advantage Of Employee's Kind Offer
DEAR ABBY: My boss, who recently separated from her husband and is getting divorced, has moved within walking distance of work. The problem is, she can't drive, and her daughter needs to be taken to and from school. I offered to help her out with her daughter, but now she's asking me to take her everywhere she needs to go.
I have been ...Read more
Honor A Somber Event By Doing A Good Deed
DEAR ABBY: I was blessed to work for President John F. Kennedy at the White House. I'm committed to honoring his memory on the 60th anniversary of his death on Nov. 22, 1963, in gratitude for the life of such an inspiring leader who promoted world peace.
On Nov. 22, 2023, we are asking people in America and throughout the world to take the ...Read more
Son's Ex's Threats May Warrant Legal Action
DEAR ABBY: My son, age 31, dated a woman for a month. On a couple of occasions, she got drunk and became very nasty. He decided to end the relationship and did it in person. Unfortunately, during their short time together, he divulged some personal issues he's working on. She contacted him a few weeks after they broke up. When he didn't respond,...Read more
Girlfriend Ranks Kids Over Boyfriend In Importance
DEAR ABBY: My girlfriend and I started dating a couple years ago after getting out of long-term relationships. We have kids from those relationships, and she is still in court over custody. We haven't been able to buy a house yet, mostly because of the cost of the court battle, so we live apart and can't spend as much time together as we'd like....Read more
Emotionally Abused Friend Has A Network Of Support
DEAR ABBY: My best friend "Owen's" wife, "Shirley," is a narcissist, and she's driving everyone away from him. They have been married for 10 years. I've known Owen since high school. He has always been a quiet, easygoing guy. Shirley is a nightmare. She has berated him at work and has left him by himself on holidays, including birthdays. She ...Read more
Man Strives To Put Mother's Lies Behind Him
DEAR ABBY: I was born 40 years ago and raised by my mother to believe that her husband was my birth father. She divorced him and raised me while receiving court-awarded child support, based on her insistence to all involved that she had not had an affair. As the years went on, it became increasingly evident this wasn't true, so I took a genetic ...Read more
Boyfriend's Behavior Pushes Woman's Boundaries
DEAR ABBY: I have been with my live-in boyfriend for eight years. During the last five months, he has started staying out until daylight, choosing his friends over me, snapping at me when he talks at all and doesn't want to be around me. We have always gone everywhere together and shared our friendships with each other. There's an age gap of 16 ...Read more
Mom's Abrupt Shift Leaves Kids Scratching Their Heads
DEAR ABBY: One night about six months ago, my mom walked out on my dad. A week later, she admitted she had been having an affair for a whole year. My parents' divorce was final three months after she left. Mom has now announced to me and my siblings that she's engaged and plans to marry her fiance just six months after the divorce. We think it's...Read more
Political Spat Over Restaurant Was Bad Manners
DEAR ABBY: My father-in-law and I are just cut from different cloth. We are political opposites, although we do get along for the most part. On a family vacation (we were visiting them), we were going out for dinner. My wife and I knew he was going to take us to a restaurant we both have ethical issues with. I handed him a 10% off coupon for a ...Read more
Sales Pitch Comes Soon After Brother's Passing
DEAR ABBY: After my husband's younger brother recently passed away, the family gathered. When one group of nephews arrived in a city an hour away from us, we were invited to lunch. (The restaurant was where the nephews had first been introduced to beer by their now-deceased uncle.) My husband didn't want to go, saying it was silly to drive that ...Read more