ArcaMax

Dear Annie: My 81-year-old mom and I live together. I work 52 hours a week, so she is home alone a lot. She does get picked up by friends a few times a week to play bingo.

But something serious has happened. A guy started an online chat with her on a "Words with Friends" game. She chatted back, and by the fourth chat he had asked for her ...Read more

Dear Annie: My wife and I have three perfect grandchildren, ages 1, 5 and 7. We love watching them at least one day a week. Their parents are caring and careful. But occasionally when I am just about to fall asleep, I have "waking dreams" that the most horrible things happen to the kids. Why? I am able to push these disturbing thoughts out of my...Read more

Dear Annie: When did airplane seats become so small? I hadn't flown in six years until this past spring, when I booked a flight to attend a family wedding. I reserved a window seat so that I could relax in comfort. But the experience was anything but comfortable.

For starters, the man next to me in the middle seat must have been 6'2" tall and ...Read more

Dear Annie: My youngest is set to move out of the family home in the next month or two. We don't mind her living at home, but she needs to move out for her own peace of mind, so she can have her own space and start to live independently. She's 22. In the past -- and still -- she has often asked for money so that she can make important payments (...Read more

Dear Annie: When I was 12 or 13 years old, I had a pen pal in a different state. I'll call him "Casey." This was long before anyone had ever heard of the term "catfished." We wrote several long letters every week and sent many photographs and small gifts. At times, we would speak on the phone. This was pre-cellphone, and I would have to save ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have teenagers who are in multiple sports. My mother-in-law is a huge fan of sports and attends most events. She gets extremely excited about the game going on and is incredibly loud -- shouting during a majority of the game.

For the most part, her comments are positive, but I can tell the constant shouting of how the players ...Read more

Dear Annie: My one sister and I took care of our parents for the last 20 years due to their poor health and dementia. We have another sister who always made promises to our parents to stop by and take them out to eat or make them some of their favorite food, but they hardly ever did that.

What hurts is that this sibling really hurt our ...Read more

Dear Annie: My oldest son is 43. He lives in another state. He has a girlfriend that he lives with. They are serious but not married, but they do plan to get married. The girlfriend has four children, ages 22, 21, 14 and 12.

My son wants to come visit. He has two kids. One is 18 years old (adopted through a previous marriage), and one is 7 ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am one who married at 19. If "Disapproving" wants to maintain a good relationship with her daughter, she should voice her concerns but assure her daughter she trusts her judgment and will always be there for her.

My mother was not supportive at all. She told me in the limo on the way to church that I could change my mind even if...Read more

Dear Annie: My daughter has two wonderful little boys, ages 2 and 1, with a man who has proven time and time again to be unfaithful. My daughter is 24 and dated "Marcus" in high school. He seemed like a nice enough young man. He went off to college and ended up losing his scholarship due to drinking.

Marcus moved back home and met an older ...Read more

Dear Annie: My wife is a synagogue president, which is a highly visible position.

She has come across far more people than I ever have.

First, she has a so-called friend from her time at Mary Kay. This woman was a pushy lady who once called my father a loser. She denied ever saying that. My spouse says that she doesn't believe either of us ...Read more

Dear Annie: My partner was made disabled last year and is confined to a wheelchair. At the moment, he is in the hospital and has been since last August. When he was in the spinal unit, I only saw him three days a week but would FaceTime every day. Now that he is closer to me, he wants me to be at his bedside seven days a week.

My doctor, who ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm potentially facing an aggressive and lethal type of cancer (esophageal), for which I'm being biopsied next week. I've known about this for just a few weeks. My former pastor and his wife were my friends, though there's been a noticeable distance in the last year. They helped me through my ex-hubby's death, as I'd been ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've been friends with "Ashley" for nine years, and we have supported each other through many hard life events. We hit it off immediately and are very close. We were both single and living alone during the pandemic and became the major part of each other's support system and human interaction during that time.

Ashley rarely makes ...Read more

Dear Annie: After reading the letter from "Unable to Open Up," the gentleman who was unable to articulate his thoughts to his therapist, I wonder if writing down his thoughts would help. Sometimes we can't bring ourselves to speak up for fear of being chastised, laughed at or embarrassed. I always encouraged my daughters to write down anything...Read more

Dear Readers: Many people had a lot to say in response to "Feeling Torn," who is concerned about the prospect of the interfaith marriage. Below are some letters.

Dear Annie: While love may conquer all, if the parents of these two have voiced concerns, I'd want to make sure each partner feels strong enough to withstand the impact of parental ...Read more

Dear Annie: I suspect my son may be gay. He is a gorgeous, smart, successful young man in his mid-20s, who has really never shown interest in girls. I am perfectly fine with him being gay, and I hope he would realize that. I wish he would just tell me if that was the case. I'm really not sure if he is because he seems very masculine. But so ...Read more

Dear Annie: My boyfriend and I get along amazingly well, and we have lots of interests that we share. But I do not understand his favoritism to his 40-year-old daughter. She has never lived on her own. She was married but still lived there -- with her father -- and had two children. She is now divorced but still living at home. She is an ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a 16-year-old girl and currently a sophomore in high school. High school is OK, but one thing I've noticed is that I'm really judgmental of others in my school and tend to bring them down in my head. For example, if I see a girl wearing revealing clothing, I'll call her a "slut" or a "whore" inside my head, or if I see a boy ...Read more

Dear Annie: This is about "Unsure," who loved her job at a school but whose husband was pressuring her to find a higher-paying job so she could contribute toward college for their teenage children.

I am writing this from the perspective of a retired public employee who is very glad to have my defined benefits pension.

It is very important to...Read more