ArcaMax

DEAR ABBY: I am a 30-year-old married woman. My job requires a lot of domestic travel, which I love. My parents continue to ask that I check in whenever I fly, and often text or call asking me where I am, even though I provide them my schedule.

I feel this indicates a lack of confidence that I can take care of myself. They frame it as they love...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Twenty years ago, I reconnected with a childhood friend. When we were in high school together, she used to love telling stories, not all of them true. Most were harmless and cast her as the center of an interesting adventure.

After graduation, I headed off to college, she started a job and we lost touch for almost 30 years. We now ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have a grandson (25) and granddaughter (22) who are both extremely overweight (300 pounds each). They not only have health issues, but also mental issues. Both work part time at the same company as their mom and dad -- and still live at home. They don't date, don't drive and are very dependent on their parents because their parents ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My college senior daughter, Lisa, insists on inviting her significant other to every holiday and to our home when she's on break. This is Lisa's first girl/girl romance, and she thinks she's in love.

This girlfriend has zero personality and adds nothing to our family dynamic. None of us can stand her. How can I nicely explain to my ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am having trouble dealing with my wife's extended family, who are mostly evangelicals. My family isn't overly religious and some are atheists. Her family doesn't think twice about asking me if I have a relationship with God, and have even declared that they are praying for me and my children. I chafe at these comments because I feel...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am an active 90-year-old grandmother who every year treats my family to a week's vacation at a beach house. We have a lovely time together.

Two years ago, my grown son, Robert, brought his girlfriend, Gennifer, and her teenage son, Jackson. After the trip I was shocked to hear Jackson had killed the family kittens to see how it ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been in a relationship for two years with a man I love very much. We're both in our early 20s. I have a house. He lives with his parents and is going to school.

Last year, after living together for a few months due to COVID, I invited him to move in with me. It took him five months to even give me an answer about whether he ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I've been dating the same woman for more than two years. She is a beautiful lady who has quite a few male fans on Facebook, mostly from before we met. What bothers me, and I don't understand why, is her habit of posting selfies and then loving the comments from other men about her looks. We have discussed this many times, but she can'...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I separated three months ago. She has moved out into her own apartment. We are not legally separated or divorced. She removed her wedding ring three weeks after she left. I want to reconcile. Whether she does at this point, she's not sure. She says she isn't seeing anyone, nor is she interested in anyone. I want to keep ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been together 23 years. A few years ago, he told a friend of his he wasn't in love with or attracted to me. I'm the same 5-foot-6-inch, 135-pound woman he married. Recently, he has become increasingly short-tempered.

He gets angry at every driver on the road, he destroyed the vacuum when it stopped working and ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I was sexually assaulted by my cousin's boyfriend a short while ago, and it was hard for me to process. When I told my cousin about it, she acknowledged that it wasn't OK, but made it all about her. Although we are extremely close, I didn't get the type of support I was hoping for. In the end, she got back with him, and casually ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I went to lunch with Anita, who proceeded to question me about how I know my friend Gail. It seems like an innocent question, but Gail and I met in Alcoholics Anonymous. I didn't tell Anita we met in AA because it would've destroyed Gail's anonymity, so I said we met through mutual friends.

I didn't mind one question, but Anita kept ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My ex-husband and I have two sons together who are 14 and 16. I have always kept things amicable for the kids' sake, but it came at a high price. I took a lot less in the divorce than I was legally entitled to because he threatened that we would not have a good relationship. I didn't want the kids to suffer and, since they were going ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband has a close friend I'll call Al. (We are like family.) Over the past five months, Al has been seeing two women and sleeping with both of them. Neither one knows about the other. He admits that one of them thinks they are in a committed relationship, however, he refuses to choose between the two. He actually plans the exact ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Seventeen years ago, when my sister Elise and I were 19 and 25, our mother kicked us both out. I have long since forgiven her, and I have a happy relationship with her. Elise, on the other hand, has never let it go. I don't understand why, because she's the older of us, and 25 was a normal age to leave the nest.

Elise refuses to see ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Several years ago, while living with my sister, I bought a $900 rowing machine I could barely afford. I loved it and used it often. Two years ago, since we were moving out, I decided to let my sister take the rowing machine because my new apartment building had three and hers had no gym at all. It worked perfectly, and I thought I was...Read more

DEAR ABBY: While I am excited for new opportunities in my life, I cannot shake the feeling I am losing something. I am always losing something, whether it be my phone, my keys or my wallet. Once I lost my retainers and had to pay $300 for new ones.

I have trouble keeping track of things. I'm afraid it will create serious problems when I begin a...Read more

DEAR ABBY: When I was 16, my cousin Mary came from Georgia to New York to stay with us for the summer. After a short time we began experimenting with French kissing, which led to more things happening between us. Mary went home at the end of summer.

We are both 50 now, and I recently learned she became pregnant back then with a daughter and ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am in a rock band with some friends. All of us are in our 50s and 60s. We have been playing together for the last three years. Last year, our bass player joined another band (while staying in ours) because another friend was in it, but they broke up because of COVID. Now that music venues are opening up again, he has joined yet ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I've been in the retail business for 12 years; my husband and I own it. A customer moved here a few months ago. He's retired and lives with his wife, daughter and grandchild. He's bored and doesn't want to be around his family, so he has started spending every day in our store, wasting our time.

He bothers customers with his stories ...Read more