ArcaMax

DEAR ABBY: My friend Kate has had a lot of trauma in her life, and she feels things very deeply. She has experienced assault, the suicide of a close friend, the death of several family members, discovered she can't have children, and managed to escape an abusive relationship, all in the last five years or so.

Kate does all the things people are...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My 13-year-old son and I recently had a discussion that maybe you can help clarify. We are seeing more about trans people these days, and I'm not sure how to address them.

I don't want to offend anyone, but when you see a large male wearing pants, shirt, etc. but has pink hair and makeup, should I say sir or madam? My son says I ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: After many years, my sister and I finally have a decent relationship. I feel I can tell her about almost anything.

My brother-in-law, Aaron, is an alcoholic, and my sister enables him. When he drinks, his already quick temper becomes worse and he knows everything. To make things worse, they have a 3-year-old child I'll call Casey. It...Read more

DEAR ABBY: When I was younger, I was engaged to a man I'll call Jake. I was deeply in love with him, only to have my heart broken when he cheated on me, so I broke it off. A short time later, I developed feelings for his brother, Jed. One thing led to another, and Jed and I are engaged to be married in two months.

When Jake found out I was ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm in my mid-30s and have just been married for the first time. I chose not to take my husband's last name for several reasons. I have a child from a previous relationship who shares my name; I have a unique name that I love; and I am established in a career in which name recognition is important. I am also an older bride. ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My former husband had an affair years ago, and when our divorce was final, he married the woman he was involved with. I'll call her Libby.

Although I have moved on, it bothers me when she refers to my children as her children. I have asked her to stop, but she continues to talk about her daughter and her son and insists it's a ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been in a relationship with my boyfriend for a little over five months. We have enjoyed spending time with each other, but we never have deep, meaningful conversations, and I feel that it's negatively impacting our relationship.

Because of the coronavirus quarantine, we can't see each other because we are still in our teens ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are 58 and getting ready to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We knew each other in college, but were just friends back then. After college, we married others and raised children. We stayed married to our spouses for close to 30 years.

We reconnected eight years ago, started an affair and divorced our partners...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I married my husband 40 years ago. A few years later, he was diagnosed with diabetes. He refused to take care of himself and ended up with double leg amputations 13 years ago. He had prosthetics but wouldn't use them. I stood by him and was his advocate, but he blamed me!

He has major health issues now, but I'm not too concerned. ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I recently lost a lot of weight and finally felt confident enough to start dating. I met a wonderful man I'll call Teddy. We've been together for eight months, and I can see a future with him. He has some quirks with intimacy that he's working on and a few odd habits he is trying to break. I have my own eccentricities as well, but we ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband has a bad habit of forgetting to lock up our house at night when he's the last one to come to bed. On nine occasions I have gone downstairs after he's in bed or awakened in the morning to find our sliding patio door or a garage door unlocked.

I cannot understand why this isn't a priority for him. If I'm the last one to ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm engaged to a younger man with a 10-year-old son from his first marriage. My two daughters are grown.

My fiance and I have talked at length about my role in his son's life after we're married. The boy's mother will have him full-time; my fiance will continue to do his part as far as picking his son up from school, taking him to ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My son, a high school senior, was in a relationship with a young woman who broke up with him and began dating his best friend. He was heartbroken. She played him into being friends and tells him he's her best friend, but her actions prove otherwise.

His father and I comforted him as best we could, but he still has feelings for her. ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I recently found out who my biological father is/was. Apparently, my mother and this man had an affair more than 50 years ago. There's only speculation as to why.

What bothers me is, I have always lived no more than 15 miles from this man and his family. I tried reaching out to the one half-sibling I am most knowledgeable about. They...Read more

DEAR ABBY: A few weeks ago, my husband and I had what I thought was a minor conflict, from which I walked away to avoid escalation. I could hear him continuing to rant, so I pulled up the security camera on my phone and watched and listened as he continued to say horrible things for an hour or more. He called me a disgusting blob, said there is ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I've been friends with Lorraine for 30 years. Actually, the friendship is kind of one-sided because she bugs the hell out of me.

She's a super-skinny health nut who constantly posts health advice and uplifting mantras on social media. Her Instagram feed is filled with pictures of her bland-looking vegan food and her doing yoga poses ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm currently waiting to donate my kidney to my sister, who is a year older than I am. My husband and I traveled many hours to get evaluated and tested at her clinic, so the insurance would cover the cost.

Before heading back to our home state, we decided to stop by to pay her a surprise visit and, honestly, she did something that's ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My 53-year-old daughter is an addict. First it was alcohol, then hard drugs and opioids. This has been going off and on for 40 years.

She hit bottom recently. She became homeless and ended up in a women's shelter in another state. She says she's been clean about six months. The shelter helped her find a place to live, and she draws a...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I wrote to you 12 years ago as a suicidal teenager. I'm thankful to be writing now from a very different place. I'm 28, happily married, with one child.

I was born into a hyperconservative cult and home-schooled until I was kicked out at 18. I then fell into a predictable pattern of abusive relationships and substance abuse. I have ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been dating this guy for about a year. We are both 30. He lives at home. At first I thought it was to take care of his elderly father, but I soon realized it wasn't the case.

His mom is sweet, yet overbearing. She inserts herself into his life at every opportunity. She talks to him like he's the butler. (Oh, perfect son of ...Read more