ArcaMax

Dear Annie: I moved here a year ago from another state to be closer to my son and daughter-in-law, but it seems that was not a good idea.

I only see them once a month when they come to my home for dinner. I realize they have jobs and a home to tend to, but I am pretty sure they spend more time with her family (10 members) than they do with me...Read more

Dear Annie: I have never felt the need to write in until I read the letter from "Please Help Guide Me," who is despairing about how her husband of one and a half years is abusive to her and her daughter. My heart was breaking for her, and my blood was boiling. She sounds depressed and thoroughly beaten down, and she needs to get mad and get ...Read more

Dear Annie: My 81-year-old mother lives in Florida with her same-age boyfriend of 10 years in a 55-plus community, which requires residents to maintain the interior and exterior of their home. I live in Ohio and fly down periodically to maintain this property. I also stay there.

My last visit, while I was completing a plumbing repair, I ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have a friend who sends email "blasts" to a long list of recipients on a daily basis. He has been doing this for years, ever since emails became as common as phone calls. Sometimes, he sends several in a day. The contents are usually links to articles that he finds interesting or opinions with which he agrees. He must spend ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a single senior woman. I am very close to a neighbor family. I love them, and they tell me they love me as if I were their family. The older stepfather lives with them. He and I are close in age. We have been great friends. Neither one of us is interested in a romantic relationship with each other or anyone else.

But over the...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a very lucky 67-year-old. I have a job I enjoy every day, a happy marriage, wonderful children and grandchildren, and my health is excellent. I also know that, life being what it is, I am likely to be dead or at least confined to an assisted living center in a decade. I've had a great life and am ready for death, if that is ...Read more

Dear Annie: There is a family in our congregation, "Fred" and "Wilma," who have two kids who are the same age as ours. My wife is friends with Wilma, and the kids all get along well. The problem is Fred. He's a fat jerk. We've known them for six years, and I work at the same company as him. However, I got promoted faster thanks to my working ...Read more

Dear Annie: Having been a registered nurse for the past 40 years, I have seen many changes in health care. I believe that nursing is a calling and not just a career. In my initial, youthful bliss, I took great joy in helping people in their hour of need. Patients and families were grateful and appreciative for every little thing that was done ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a single woman who is quite social, and frequently I go out to dinner during the week with a close group of friends. We also go to bars or clubs about twice a month on Saturday nights. Many of my friends love to get out on the dance floor and dance the night away. I've never enjoyed dancing, and so my preference is to just ...Read more

Dear Annie: My sister and her husband are both in their mid-80s and live on a farm. He is disabled. They insist on retaining horses and livestock, which my frail 90-pound sister feeds daily.

On a recent visit, I observed her moving amongst the animals without her hearing aids and without her cellphone to use to call for help should she be ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've had a HUGE sweet tooth all my life. I have also always been very active, and I eat healthy foods. However, I'm nervous that this is not enough to balance my intake of sugary goodies.

Now that I'm older, I realize that I can't keep eating so many sweets. Diabetes is common in my family, and my grandfather passed away from it ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have worked in the same office for 18 years. For many years, there were five of us in our division: three women and two men. One of the men left for a different job a year ago, and he was replaced by a woman, "Carla," who is very difficult to work with. In fact, I'm convinced that she is a liar and a troublemaker.

The only man ...Read more

Dear Annie: I consider myself to be a self-aware social media poster. However, there is a family member on Facebook who posts her childcare needs at least once a week. She posts the day and time she needs and has said the names of the children who need a sitter. She has three children.

Her circumstance is difficult as she is going through a ...Read more

Dear Annie: Finding topics of conversation can often be difficult during long visits. Since "Grinding My Teeth" feels that this may be the last time she and her husband will visit with these in-laws, why not take this opportunity to encourage these people to talk about their lives?

When they arrive, ask the in-laws if they would be willing to...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband of 42 years discovered a new way of breathing, and it has made me scared to death. I am afraid that he might die in his sleep.

"Charles" had asthma and allergies in his childhood, and he was prescribed all kinds of medication. He mostly outgrew his asthma as an adult, though he would frequently get terrible allergies ...Read more

Dear Annie: My wife left me a little over a year ago. She handled all the finances and was a stay-at-home mom while I worked to earn money. After six months of counseling and her refusing to budge, it was evident the marriage was over.

Upon review of my finances, I discovered that over the last four years of our marriage, she spent 55% of my ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am looking for some help in dealing with my alcoholic, grossly overweight brother-in-law. He is 53 years old and has been an alcoholic since high school. Over the past 15 years, he has lost his wife, house and more jobs than you can count. He lives with his mother, and she supports him and his food and alcohol habits.

As a ...Read more

Dear Annie: Recently, my girlfriend had a dinner party for six people. One of the guests took it upon herself to bring her dog to the affair. I was livid. This woman let her dog roam throughout the host's home unattended. The dog owner was totally oblivious to the other guests in attendance.

What is your take on this total disrespect for ...Read more

Dear Annie: I cannot tell you how elated I was to read the letter from "Eating and Satisfied." I, too, found success with intermittent fasting -- even to the extent of losing more than a hundred pounds.

The experts have found that going without food for 16 to 18 hours straight will facilitate faster weight loss by using up your glycogen ...Read more

Dear Annie: My sister started smoking cigarettes when she was 18 and still smokes today at 48. She has quit several times over the years, but then she goes back to smoking again and again. Her husband and children want her to quit, and my older brother goes ballistic on the subject -- yelling and screaming at her when she goes outside to light...Read more