ArcaMax

DEAR ABBY: I am 76. My husband and I planned our final wishes for cremation because I have had a lifelong fear of being buried underground. My children from my first marriage are Jewish and very much against cremation. When I told them my wishes, they attacked me with a barrage of negatives about cremation, such as, "You won't go to heaven," "...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My mother-in-law is an attention-seeker. She's very loud and talks in a baby voice so that everyone looks at her. She made my wedding shower and, years later, my baby shower all about her and the gifts she gave. Not only did it take the spotlight from my husband and me, but it made other family members' gifts or contributions seem ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are in our early 70s. We have been married seven years. I was celibate before we met and thrilled to have a partner I respected and was attracted to. Our sex life seemed normal and exciting with lots of kisses and hugs throughout the day.

Recently, I caught him on a phone sex call and then discovered he visits sex ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My adult daughter is single and lives alone. She lives five hours away but manages to visit every two months or so. The problem is, when she comes home, we hardly ever see her. She's mostly at her cousin's house. During her most recent visit, we saw her a total of one hour a day the five days she was here -- just enough time for her ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have a child with a woman I'll call "Kara," who is now my ex-wife. Our son lives full time with me and my new wife, whom I married three years ago. Kara was diagnosed with schizophrenia five or six years ago, which is what ultimately led to our divorce. She has only recently been able to keep a job despite her condition, which is ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am struggling with an invisible illness and losing patience with friends, family and acquaintances. I'm working with doctors to manage my conditions, and I'm tired of all the suggestions and seemingly positive comments I'm hearing, like, "You can do it; just put your mind to it!"

I am seeing a therapist to help with the emotional ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been dating a man for more than two years, and I thought we had a future together. I'm 57, divorced, no kids. He's 58, divorced and has two grown children. At first, he said he was living with his parents so he could take care of his dad, who had been very ill. But it has been more than three years now!

I put bids on four ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My grandson is 6 and very sensitive, maybe too sensitive. He's also lovable, super scientific-minded, good-hearted and generous with his little sister. However, he still uses a diaper at night and has CVS (cyclical vomiting syndrome). It's heartbreaking. For that reason, he's on a special gluten- free, no flour, no chocolate diet.

...Read more

DEAR ABBY: A guy at work, "Leon," is my age, very friendly and down-to-earth. When we've worked together, we have had great conversations, and he has told me a lot about his girlfriend who he's been with for years. I feel guilty knowing this because Leon is having an affair with a girl here at work who's almost a decade his junior, and they've ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I got engaged five months ago, and my wedding date is seven months from now. My soon-to-be sister-in-law and bridesmaid has just announced she's pregnant with her second child and due a week after our wedding.

I have conflicting emotions. While I'm happy for her family to grow, I can't help but worry it will detract from my fiance ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My mother is 90 and has been a widow for 10 years. When we moved to this city 30 years ago, my parents made friends with a group of people. In this group was a couple nobody in our family liked (Dad especially), but Mom remained friends with them. Abby, the husband is a smarmy narcissist.

A couple of weeks ago, I went into my mom's ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I were married nine years. He unexpectedly left me when COVID first hit. We were apart for a year and eight months and ended up divorcing. I filed because, even though I didn't want to believe it, I eventually accepted that it was over. Even though he hadn't actually filed the papers, he had taken all other necessary ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I play on a pool team. About a year ago, the team captain looked at my wife and said, "So, can I play with your lower private area?" (He didn't use those words.) My wife, who is very shy, was shocked.

He has made dumb comments before, and I've warned him several times. This time when I told him, he was dumb enough to ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm a 45-year-old woman who has been dating "Ben" (53) for two years. We have known each other for more than 20. He treats me like a queen. Prior to our dating, he had a girlfriend he used to confide in me about. I was very jealous of her. She knew we were friends, so she made a point of posting lots of pictures of their PDAs on his ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My narcissistic father feels entitled to do whatever he pleases. He has always insisted that since he makes the money, far more than my mother's income, he should be waited on and cleaned up after. If he stays in my home, he leaves messes everywhere. He's 70, but he acts like a 4-year-old.

He loves attention and will do anything to ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I married a recovering addict, and for years he did great. We made a lovely home and family together. Then one of my husband's drug buddies (a woman) resurfaced. My husband had an affair, went down that nasty road again and did some very cruel things to destroy our marriage. We have been married 19 years and separated for the last ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I struggled for years with vomiting and nausea, as well as other digestive issues I dismissed as having a "sensitive stomach." When my fiance, "Marc," and I started dating, he urged me to find out the cause of my issues. Six months ago, I was diagnosed with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that is managed through a gluten-free ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm a 32-year-old woman. My 20s were spent in a serious long-term relationship. It was a lot of firsts for me. After we split, I took a couple of years to sow my wild oats and find out who I am as an individual.

I'm now looking for something more than "friends with benefits." However, the last few men I've met and gone on dates with,...Read more

DEAR ABBY: The other day I went to the pool in my neighborhood and found there were four lounge chairs with towels on them indicating they were "reserved." They are the best chairs in the pool area because they are covered by a small roof and protected from the sun. I then had to use another chair that only partially covered me.

It wasn't until...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Throughout my childhood, my mother was controlling in many ways. One of them was my clothes. She dressed me in ridiculous outfits that I found humiliating. If I expressed an opinion about anything, I was treated as being "bad." It affected my mental health, which resulted in me hating the way I look.

I went through multiple eating ...Read more