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Dear Annie: I've been happily married for 17 years to my wife, and we have two kids together, ages 9 and 14.

We live in a city that has seen a rash of petty crime, or worse, lately. It has become a commonplace occurrence for criminals to try to open windows and doors, entering homes and stealing things.

My problem is that my wife has a habit...Read more

Dear Annie: For the past two years, I've lived in my apartment complex without issues except for my next-door neighbor. I have come to learn that she has a medical issue -- I believe it is cerebral palsy -- but that's not why I'm needing advice. For these last two years, I have been hemorrhaging money on my utility bill to keep cool. Even in ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a divorced father with two children. My son has been depressed for over 13 years, living in Denver with his mother who's an alcoholic. He has lost numerous jobs due to his depression and drinking, eventually drinking two bottles of Jack Daniel's in the garage of his mother's house and subsequently shooting himself.

Now comes ...Read more

Dear Annie: My neighbor, who has become one of my very best friends, just moved to a city four hours away. I'm devastated. We used to meet up nearly every night for a cocktail on the porch or a walk around the neighborhood. We both promised to keep in close touch, but I have barely heard from her at all in the month that she has been gone. I ...Read more

Dear Annie: When COVID hit, my boyfriend and I -- who already lived together -- began spending every waking minute together, as we were both working from home. I honestly loved it. I never get tired of him. For the past two years, I love that we have been able to eat lunch together every day, chat with each other between meetings and be in ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have two grown sons, ages 32 and 24, and they are my oldest and youngest children of six. At the age of 15, the 32-year-old was accused of a crime that the family knows he did not commit. But the accusation resulted in his spending approximately 15 years in and out of the penal system. He entered a facility for adult inmates when...Read more

Dear Annie: I had a cousin who was dating an actress. On her biography, she listed people she had dated but did not bother to mention my cousin.

My cousin committed suicide because she dumped him. Before killing himself, he said he was so upset that he was going to take his own life. That was the last we heard from him. That morning, he ...Read more

Dear Annie: I want to share a story with you and your readers about a resource that has helped our family tremendously. They are called memory care centers, which is an alternative to assisted living.

in 1998, my sister and I were informed that the agency handling the 24/7 home care for my dad, who had Alzheimer's, could no longer work with ...Read more

Dear Annie: I must disagree with your advice to "Brokenhearted in Ohio." These adult children should not have to be reminded to call or send a card to their grandmother on her birthday or any holiday. They are being very disrespectful, no matter how busy their lives are.

Beyond her apparent focus on expensive gifts from the past, Grandma ...Read more

Dear Annie: Over the years, my tolerance for garlic has gotten so bad that I have cut it out of my diet entirely. This is really hard because garlic is in everything. I try to explain to people that yes, this is real, and yes, it makes me very sick. There are even support groups on Facebook about this.

At church, I do not go to potlucks or ...Read more

Dear Annie: There's a pizza place my husband and I go to once in a while near our home that has a really nice wait staff -- mostly younger girls -- but there is one gal, "Veronica," who's older, and we hit it off really well. We were good friends, or so I thought. The last two times we have been in for lunch, she has gone out of her way to avoid...Read more

Dear Readers: Today marks the first day of a new season and one of my favorites: fall. As we say so long to summer and swap our swimsuits for sweaters, we look ahead to new and exciting memories to come -- from back-to-school activities to trick-or-treating, football games to pumpkin-carving and plenty of apple cider.

Here are some of my ...Read more

Dear Annie: I will be 80 in October 2022. I do not have a problem with aging. It's better than the alternative.

I read this years ago and still think they are great words to live by: "Age is just a number of years ... It is what you do with those years that keeps you young and beautiful to be near. Age is a state of mind: If you leave your ...Read more

Dear Annie: I will admit that I am a controlling daughter-in-law. I suffered childhood abuse of many kinds and am deeply reluctant to trust others with my children, particularly men.

My father-in-law sets off my alarm bells in a bad way. He is not appropriate with women and children.

I could list all the warnings I have been told and heard ...Read more

Dear Annie: We're in a bit of a crisis here. My daughter has gone through a messy divorce. Her ex-husband took her to court for custody of their two younger children, calling her neglectful and unfit, as well as seeking to reduce support payments, to name a few charges. She won the case, but now he is appealing.

He has practically unlimited ...Read more

Dear Annie: My grandson was the victim of hazing incidents in the locker room at his private school. It went on for more than a month. Someone made videos of parts of it, and the entire school saw the videos.

The perpetrator was asked to withdraw from his school (not expelled). The detective who investigated told my daughter that he had never ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've been reading your column for a while and now have a situation of my own I'm hoping you can help me with. I've been with my girlfriend for 10 months and am set to propose very soon. We get along quite well, make each other laugh, build each other up and communicate well, too, so things couldn't be better. The only issue is that...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a 44-year-old single male who has been struggling with the dating scene. I only started dating in the last 15 years. Though I have met a lot of great people during that time, it seems as if being a gentleman, opening doors, trying to build a relationship, sending good morning/goodnight texts, and having great dates with ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am 75. Two years ago, my oldest son, age 53, died suddenly from a massive heart attack. He was single and worked hard to amass a very large estate, which he left to me. The plan once his estate closed was to use some of the money to move to another state, pay cash for a house, get a couple of dependable cars, keep the remainder ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am writing in response to "Angry Neighbor," published on Aug. 28. "Angry" is upset about a campaign sign in his neighbor's yard. Some states have a time limit for how long a political sign can remain posted. The neighbor might be in violation of a law or ordinance. "Angry" could pursue this further.

Thank you. -- Helpful ...Read more