ArcaMax

Dear Annie: I am in my late 60s, and my boyfriend, "Mark," is in his early 70s. We have been living together in my house for a year and a half. We're both divorced and have adult children from our previous marriages. Mark communicates daily with all five children via phone calls and text messages. My problem is that he's also regularly in ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a single mother of two teenage girls. After a series of abusive relationships, I hadn't dated for two years until recently. A few months ago, I met a man, and we've been seeing each other and sharing intimate moments. But the way he acts has me very confused.

He says that marriage is something he's simply not interested in. I...Read more

Dear Annie: My ex-husband was very controlling and always had to have the upper hand in conversations. Today, we do all of our communicating through email only, but he still needs to end all correspondence on his terms.

We have been divorced for three years now, but he still thinks he can control me because we have a joint parenting plan, ...Read more

Dear Annie: My wife and I have been married for four years. I have never been married before, and my wife, "Gertrude," was divorced when we married.

While dating, Gertrude told me about how her ex-husband would verbally abuse her and her child. But now Gertrude is treating me the same way she says she was treated by her ex, making the same ...Read more

Dear Annie: My son is soon to be 23 years old. He was two courses short of earning his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science when something bad happened. He would not tell me what. He fell apart and did not graduate.

That was two years ago. We got him into counseling, and he saw several different counselors; he was in group therapy, ...Read more

Dear Annie: About a year ago, after talking to a nice guy who could also be a royal pain -- especially when things don't go his way -- I decided to let him into my heart. I did this even though I am usually pretty well guarded and don't allow too many people close to me. I am one of those people who don't feel comfortable sharing my emotions ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a happily married woman with two young children. My problem is that I'm very overweight, and I'm desperately afraid that my husband will leave me for someone skinny. I've voiced these insecurities to him. He swears to God that I'm the only one he'll ever love, that I'm so beautiful and that he has no interest in other women, ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a father of two amazing children and completely loyal husband of more than 20 years. But I have an ongoing issue with my parents-in-law, especially my father-in-law.

About 15 years ago, when our oldest child was a toddler, my in-laws became upset that I wasn't pushing religion hard enough in the household. They told my wife I ...Read more

Dear Annie: My former boyfriend and I were in a serious, exclusive relationship for nearly six years. While we never lived together, we were intimately close and spent most nights together. He always told me how much he loved me and that I was the best.

Seven months ago, he blindsided me. He broke up with me, in the coldest, least empathetic ...Read more

Dear Annie: I recently dined out with three friends. The restaurant was very busy, and we waited for nearly two hours for our food. We were drinking and enjoying a band, so it wasn't that bad.

I went to the restroom and was literally gone for three minutes. When I came back, the food had been served except for mine. My place-setting was empty...Read more

Dear Annie: I retired 11 years ago, but I could have been the obsessed woman addicted to her iPhone before I retired.

But in the previous decade, as I lay in my hospital room, recovering from serious stress-induced internal surgery, I kept addressing the "pings" on my phone.

My oldest daughter, a special needs faculty member at a local ...Read more

Dear Annie: There is tension between some of my relatives and me, and I would appreciate your advice.

Over the past couple of years, I have noticed that certain relatives stopped answering my text messages and declined any of my invitations to get together.

I am clueless as to why. I have always been there for them: dance recitals, proms, ...Read more

Dear Annie: We recently moved from our home of 20 years to a neighboring state that is two hours away by car. Our children are 21 and 19. We had set our sights on moving to this community several years ago, but we waited until our son had graduated from high school. Ever since we moved here 10 months ago, our daughter has been miserable, ...Read more

Dear Annie: I live in a small town. My mother died a couple of years ago, and around that same time, a friend of mine had just lost his home and was looking for someplace to live. So, I told him he could move in with me and help pay the bills. It's been a good arrangement for us both. But I recently learned that people have been spreading ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have been married to my wife for just over two years. We each have a child from a previous marriage, and we have a child together. A few months ago, she started accusing me of distancing myself from her. I was confused by this, as I truly hadn't intended to. I thought everything had been going OK.

Well, it turns out that she was...Read more

Dear Annie: I was in a very controlling and abusive relationship from the time I was 15 until three years ago, when my ex passed away. We were both in our late 30s at the time.

After he died, it took me 10 months of searching before I found someone who is kind and caring -- just such a sweet guy. But lately, I've been frustrated with the ...Read more

Dear Annie: This will be my first time writing to you. I have read your previous work, and you give sound advice, so I pray you can do the same for me.

I have had issues in finding a woman for me, and this is nothing new. I had this same issue starting back in high school. I admit that, at first, I did nothing about it, thinking it would just...Read more

Dear Annie: I believe the most valuable lesson my father instilled in me was to do one good deed every day. He always told my sisters and me that we would have a truly meaningful life if we practiced that.

He didn't give us everything we asked for, but he did encourage us to share some of our toys, books and more with other neighborhood kids ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am writing in response to your answer to "Just Want the Same Service," who was frustrated at the slow service she received in a restaurant.

As someone who worked as a server for 30 years and who has friends who still work in the industry, I am appalled at the attitudes of people toward hospitality servers. It's like people have ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm in a situation where I'm not sure what to do. I've been in a relationship for six years, and we were engaged; however, now he says that it's not going to happen because I am bipolar.

I do everything for him and always think of him more than myself. Then he calls me a baby and doesn't appreciate anything I do for him. I wait on...Read more