ArcaMax

Dear Annie: My brother has a chronic mental illness. For all his life up until two years ago, he lived in the same city as my long-divorced parents, and there he received support from them as well as from community mental health services. Two years ago, he moved to another city, one he has long felt strongly drawn to and that is far from our ...Read more

Dear Annie: Seventeen years ago, my husband had an emotional affair with his co-worker. I confronted her when it started (she texted him after finding out we were having marital problems) and told her to please stay out of my personal life. However, the texts and happy hours between them continued for another month or two. I eventually ...Read more

Dear Annie: My daughter recently and courageously moved across the country to the city her godmother lives in. I chose this friend to be her god mom based on what I thought was a beautiful bond the two had with each other. I adopted my daughter when she was in her late teens after a heck of a time in the foster care system. My friend gave my ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have a gift-giving dilemma. In recent years, we had a falling out with our child's spouse, and it's come down to the in-law's way or no way. As a result, the relationships with our child and grandchildren have also been impacted. Though I love them all dearly, I won't let the in-law dictate how I live my life.

I've continued to ...Read more

Dear Annie: When our son was born eight years ago this month, my husband and I were excited to have family from both sides come and help us and be there to support us. We had been told by many people, both at the hospital and birthing classes, what to expect. Quite the opposite happened, and while it was a confusing and difficult time for us, ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a newly married 32-year-old woman, and my husband is 31. We've been married for three months, and we're both really excited to share the holiday season together for the first time as husband and wife.

My childhood family is very small. I only have my mom and sister nearby and a brother who lives 2,000 miles away. My sister has...Read more

Dear Annie: My daughter will be getting married in a couple of weeks. This is her second marriage. They were engaged right before Covid and put the wedding on hold. They now have decided that they are tired of waiting and will go ahead with a small wedding with just very close family members. However, it has exponentially increased to about 26...Read more

Dear Annie: I was at home making a sandwich recently when my close friend's wife from next door came through the back door. She called out and said she just wanted to see how I was doing. I said I was great and asked if she wanted a sandwich and a beer. She said no to the sandwich but yes to the beer, so I got her one and then sat down to ...Read more

Dear Annie: We have a relative coming from out of town to visit for a week. I'd love to say I'm excited to see her, but I'm not. Last time she stayed, I was ready to push her out the door! She's bossy and tries to tell me what to do and how to do it. I don't appreciate people questioning me, especially in my own home. She's fanatically ...Read more

Dear Readers: Wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving! Today and always, may we take a moment to appreciate all that we have and are thankful for in our lives. To help celebrate, here are some of my favorite quotes about gratitude:

"Thanksgiving Day is a good day to recommit our energies to giving thanks and just giving." -- Amy Grant...Read more

Dear Readers: As we enter into this holiday season with Thanksgiving starting tomorrow, it is a good time to start to live in the "gratitude flow" with life. When we are grateful for big and little things, we are actively and purposefully living a more grounded life. What we appreciate is appreciated.

The best way to do this is to start ...Read more

Dear Annie: I love the advice you gave "Fretting the Next Day." I'm also turning 40 this year, and it has occupied my mind a lot. I try to remember that I'm way more settled now than I have been in my life and that, as the song goes, "I'm not afraid of growing older; I'm one less day from dying young" (thanks to Rob Thomas!). So much to look ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am 42 and married to a woman who is 44. We have two small children, a 5-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy, plus an older stepson, who is 28 and on his own.

When I met my wife, we dated for years, and I eventually moved in with her and her son when he was about 12 years old. We sent him to college and got officially married ...Read more

Dear Annie: I just read a story in the newspaper about some high school boys using artificial intelligence to create nude images of girls in the same school and then posting them on social media. I also read a story earlier about something similar happening in Spain.

As the father of a grade school daughter, I am really alarmed about what is ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've been married for 11 years and together with my husband for 20. Around two years ago, we began experiencing loss after loss, and our marriage seemed just OK. We lost his father and a son to suicide. It was more than we'd ever lost before.

I started to notice my husband wanted to stay all night at his brother-in-law's more ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm 67 years old, and I've been married for over 40 years. My marriage has never been particularly happy. Even in the beginning, I felt pressured to get married. We now have two adult children, one 46 and the other 37.

I met a woman online, and we've been chatting and talking for over two years now. I really like her; she's a ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been together six years this December, married four. We grew closer when I had a miscarriage after only a few months of dating. He stood by my side and asked my dad for my hand. He knew then he wanted to stand with me and by me.

A year into our marriage, I discovered he was cheating on me with one of his exes...Read more

Dear Annie: For 25 years, I thought my husband was blurting out inappropriate things too often in conversations. He was somewhat like his mother, who once said to me, "You look like you are going to cry," as I fiercely attempted to retain my composure. Little did I realize that their "faux pas" blurts were attempts to read emotions ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've never commented on a column, but I felt the need to comment about the letter from parents whose daughter has abruptly announced she wants to leave college after a dear friend left. I saw red flags all over this post. Students, especially female students, who abruptly leave often do so due to something bad happening, especially...Read more

Dear Annie: For years, my natural birth father and I had a difficult time getting along or seeing eye to eye. He had remarried a wealthy woman who had a daughter, and from the time I can remember, they have been first in his life. My sister and I came second.

His wife and her child became his main priority, including when my stepsister, "...Read more