ArcaMax

Dear Annie: After more than 40 years addicted to meth, and being an alcoholic, I have been clean and sober for two years now and I am nothing like the old me. My now grown children are speaking to me after four long heartbreaking silent years.

Unfortunately, my goal to reconcile my mother/child relationships just don't seem to be in sight. ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have a 40-year-old son who seems to think I am his personal piggy bank.

He did a short time in prison. We have supported him through that and all of the other bad times he has experienced in his life. However, he only contacts us when he needs money. After years of helping him, we have decided to stop. His situation has not ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am 68 years of age and actually very lonely. Most of my friends have either moved on or passed away. I don't make close friends very often because I don't trust too many people. I guess I expect a lot.

Honesty, loyalty and caring. That's hard to find. I can only remember maybe four friends I had through life that seemed to be ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm heading to college next year and am scared of making new friends. While I have don't have trouble talking to new people or getting along with most of them, I feel like none of them will understand my weirdness the same way my high school friends do.

My parents and I moved here from a different country, and my current group ...Read more

Dear Annie: Your recent letter from, "Grieving My Childhood," reminded me of a very old German song, written by a renowned clergyman, that begins with the line, "Der Mond ist aufgegangen." It later says, roughly translated: "Do you see the moon over there? You can only see half of it, yet it is round and beautiful. So are many things at which ...Read more

Dear Annie: We have a son and daughter-in-law who live in Wisconsin, while we live more than 1,200 miles away in Florida. In early May, our son asked us if we could come up to Wisconsin in August to care for his girls (our grandkids) while he and our daughter-in-law spent a weekend in New York City. However, since we had previously planned to ...Read more

Dear Annie: I want to change my career path to pursue what I really want to do in life. I have two kids, a 2-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter. Currently, I am a driver for Lyft and Uber, and I work more than 50 hours a week. I'm making a decent amount of money, but it's not enough.

I've wanted to be a male entertainer since I was in high ...Read more

Dear Annie: My family moved from Shanghai four years ago and have settled in a lovely home in California. I very much enjoy our family lifestyle here and wouldn't trade it for the world.

During the move, however, there was something very unsettling that we brought with us that still plays a role in my nightmares. We have a life-size Ronald ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been with my boyfriend for six years. He is still legally married to his wife, and his children are grown. I have a great relationship with his family and children. The problem is that, for whatever reason, he keeps putting off officially getting a divorce. He gives excuse after excuse. I love this man and his children and ...Read more

Dear Annie: Several years ago, after my late husband passed away, I reconnected with an old friend whom I'd dated in high school. He was divorced. His ex-wife had become involved with someone else. She was 20 years younger than him. He had retired and that was when she asked for a divorce. I think it hurt him deeply.

We went to some ...Read more

Dear Annie: I met a great gal. We seem really good together most of the time, but here's the rub. She has a dog. It is a nice dog but not very well trained. The big problem is bedtime at my place. The dog wants to share our bed, and is uncontrollably insistent about it, whining and disturbing us throughout the night until she gives up and ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have a problem I've been struggling with for quite some time. I am in my late 40s and have been married for over half my life. For the past five years or so, I have been dealing with the idea that I may be gay. I have always kind of felt that I could be, but I went the traditional route and married a man.

Thinking back to my ...Read more

Dear Annie: Recently, I stayed with my niece and nephew while my brother and his wife took a trip. This seems like a trivial problem, but I know it can lead to serious health issues in the long run. Neither of my brother's teenaged kids brushed their teeth regularly. I reminded them often, but they found ways to wiggle out of it. One was even ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have a problem that many other mothers-in-law may have, but mine has a twist.

My daughter-in-law has been angry at me for nearly 20 years because I discussed her fertility problems with another family member, and word got back to her that I had done so. Occasionally, she will put her anger aside and give me a hug and tell me ...Read more

Dear Annie: Recently, I was contacted by a person who had just received results from a popular online DNA test, which I had also taken some time ago. She asked who I was. We share a great deal of DNA, so, naturally, she assumed that she would know me. Well, after looking through our shared DNA matches and carrying out some additional research,...Read more

Dear Annie: Frequently, we read letters from your readers who are mystified about the fact that when they send a card or a package carefully wrapped and mailed, the recipient does not even think about the fact that love played a major role in this. We often send cards with money and a note of love to young family members. No reply! Not that we...Read more

Dear Annie: I am part of a cooking club that meets the second Tuesday of each month. Each member buys food and we cook a recipe chosen by the host. There are 15 members. Each has to host once every 15 months. We are all females in our 50s or 60s.

There's a handful of members who always attend and a larger group that rarely (like never) attend...Read more

Dear Annie: The problem is not with our son, but his wife. They dated in high school and college, and she was friendly and nice to us during those periods, visiting us quite often. They were married after living together for more than five years, and during that time we had good relations with them. They would visit us once a week.

My son and...Read more

Dear Annie: I live out in the country and have found a consistently wonderful kennel for my dog. The people who work there are the owner and two helpers; all are kind, efficient and obviously dog lovers. The kennel costs $40 per night. My question is, how much of a tip to leave? Sometimes, one of the helpers is working when I pick up my dog, ...Read more

Dear Annie: Recently, I got married after being single and a widow for 23 years. My husband and I are in our late 70s and very active. We went on a tour to the Midwest. There was a very attractive 70-plus woman with whom I noticed my husband flirting, and she with him. I mentioned that I did not appreciate the attention he was throwing her way...Read more