ArcaMax

Dear Readers: As we prepare for another holiday season, all kinds of emotions and feelings rise to the surface for all of us -- some of joy and excitement and some of disappointment or sadness. This is one of my favorite poems when it comes to feelings. I hope you enjoy it.

"The Guest House" by Rumi

"This being human is a guest house.

Every...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been married for almost 20 years. My husband was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about a year ago, but I suspect that's what was going on with him for many years prior to the official diagnosis. He is also an alcoholic.

Our marriage has deteriorated due to not only the effect his illness has on his personality and behavior ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am looking forward to the holiday season this year, just as I have in years past, and I wanted to share my thoughts about this. Being an octogenarian, born in 1940, I see things more clearly as I enter the twilight of my life.

Talk about change and understanding, what a way to begin the fall and winter seasons of my life, both ...Read more

Dear Annie: My mom's husband molested my sister more than 25 years ago. I was a teenager at the time, and because I lived with my dad, I didn't know all that went on. I do know that the case went to court, thanks to my dad, who always stuck out his neck for us. (I'm glad I wasn't living with my mom, because who knows what would have happened ...Read more

Dear Annie: My boyfriend and I are in love, and we've been together for five years and have lived together for the past three years. He moved in with me after his divorce. Now, from that divorce, his credit was horrible. So, since living together, I pay all of the household bills and occasionally help him with his bills because he is "trying ...Read more

Dear Readers: Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and joyous Thanksgiving. As we gather around the table, it is a good time to reflect on all the things that we can be thankful for. It is a time to appreciate what you have and treasure the very moments that you are spending with friends or family. Below are some of my favorite poems about ...Read more

Dear Readers: As we prepare our tables and tummies for tomorrow's Thanksgiving celebration, I find myself reflecting on the countless things I am grateful for. From good health to loving friends and family to our wonderful community of readers and letter writers, there are so many things, big and small, to appreciate.

Here are some of my ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for a couple of years; we each have children from previous relationships and no children together. Individually, we both make good incomes. He is in real estate, and I am a software programmer.

Before getting married, I (alone) purchased the home we currently reside in. I invested a large amount ...Read more

Dear Annie: With reference to a recent column in which the reader said she had lost her home to a reverse mortgage, there are two primary ways this can happen, and I want to explain how to avoid this so that it never happens to any other reader.

In a reverse mortgage, the money paid by the lender to the homeowner in reverse does NOT include ...Read more

Dear Annie: Back in the '90s, before cellphones, I discovered that my husband was having an affair with the manager of a store he owned. It had been going on for seven years, and everyone knew about it, including their mothers and all the employees -- everyone but me.

I did have my suspicions, though. He'd come home late from work, and I ...Read more

Dear Annie: On July 12, 2022, my son and his wife gave birth to identical twin boys. A week prior, my son said nobody could come to the hospital due to COVID-19. The day the boys were born, my son mentioned that his wife's parents were there at the hospital with them. I didn't say anything.

A week after they arrived home, I was on the phone ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am struggling with the fact that I will be coming face to face with family members after a year estranged. I drew a line in the sand last year when my niece assaulted another guest in my home. "Lynnie" is nearly 40 and has always been the life of the party. However, her drinking has gotten out of control. She had a DUI three ...Read more

Dear Annie: My live-in girlfriend of 15 years, who is 12 years older, never wants to hang out with me and any of my friends. Even when I found friends closer to her age, she still does not want to do anything. When we first met, it was no problem, but throughout the years, she just wants to hang out with her father and me.

I would love to do ...Read more

Dear Annie: I lost my beloved father to suicide on Oct. 23, 1997, making me a suicide survivor, which means someone who has lost a loved one to suicide. My father was on his second bout of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and he didn't leave a note. Most do not. I was desperate for guidance after he died and found much assistance...Read more

Dear Annie: My grandson is in first grade and was being bullied by a classmate. The first time, the bully threw him to the ground and started punching him in the face. In the second incident, the classmate pushed my grandson to the ground and began kicking him in the stomach.

The boy's mother, my daughter-in-law, went to his school and told ...Read more

Dear Annie: I was surprised at your response to the letter writer regarding the Rational Recovery book, offered as an alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous. I am not an alcoholic myself, but I have adjacent relationships, including a dear departed uncle who met the love of his life at AA. I have no objection or ax to grind with AA. You are ...Read more

Dear Annie: Approximately seven years ago, my husband was unfaithful. I filed divorce papers, but he asked that we not go through with it, and he made promises that things would change. But since then, nothing has changed.

I asked him for a divorce again at the end of 2021, but finding an inexpensive lawyer was very difficult, so I did not ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been together for nearly 30 years, but we have been growing apart over the past seven or eight, despite marriage counseling that didn't seem to help. About six years ago, he was diagnosed with an illness that he is on the mend from now. Although I craved divorce, I couldn't bring myself to leave him while he ...Read more

Dear Annie: On Veterans Day, it is very important to honor all veterans, not just the ones that served in a war of society's approval. I am a Vietnam veteran, and the reception we got on returning to "the world" after our tour of duty was shameful, disgraceful and disrespectful. Those of us that served did not have a political agenda or ...Read more

Dear Annie: My two sisters and I were out running errands one day when my youngest sister announced that we as a family should no longer exchange Christmas gifts because it's too hard to figure out what to buy everyone. She said that we all either have what we want, or what we need, at our ages.

We celebrate Christmas at her house because she...Read more