ArcaMax

Dear Annie: I am 42 and married to a woman who is 44. We have two small children, a 5-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy, plus an older stepson, who is 28 and on his own.

When I met my wife, we dated for years, and I eventually moved in with her and her son when he was about 12 years old. We sent him to college and got officially married ...Read more

Dear Annie: I just read a story in the newspaper about some high school boys using artificial intelligence to create nude images of girls in the same school and then posting them on social media. I also read a story earlier about something similar happening in Spain.

As the father of a grade school daughter, I am really alarmed about what is ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've been married for 11 years and together with my husband for 20. Around two years ago, we began experiencing loss after loss, and our marriage seemed just OK. We lost his father and a son to suicide. It was more than we'd ever lost before.

I started to notice my husband wanted to stay all night at his brother-in-law's more ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm 67 years old, and I've been married for over 40 years. My marriage has never been particularly happy. Even in the beginning, I felt pressured to get married. We now have two adult children, one 46 and the other 37.

I met a woman online, and we've been chatting and talking for over two years now. I really like her; she's a ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been together six years this December, married four. We grew closer when I had a miscarriage after only a few months of dating. He stood by my side and asked my dad for my hand. He knew then he wanted to stand with me and by me.

A year into our marriage, I discovered he was cheating on me with one of his exes...Read more

Dear Annie: For 25 years, I thought my husband was blurting out inappropriate things too often in conversations. He was somewhat like his mother, who once said to me, "You look like you are going to cry," as I fiercely attempted to retain my composure. Little did I realize that their "faux pas" blurts were attempts to read emotions ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've never commented on a column, but I felt the need to comment about the letter from parents whose daughter has abruptly announced she wants to leave college after a dear friend left. I saw red flags all over this post. Students, especially female students, who abruptly leave often do so due to something bad happening, especially...Read more

Dear Annie: For years, my natural birth father and I had a difficult time getting along or seeing eye to eye. He had remarried a wealthy woman who had a daughter, and from the time I can remember, they have been first in his life. My sister and I came second.

His wife and her child became his main priority, including when my stepsister, "...Read more

Dear Annie: We reside only six miles from one of our children and 25 miles from the other. If we don't go to their house to help with something, we hardly see them. They have full-time jobs, which require a lot of overtime, and they volunteer, run kids all over for sporting events and do their best to keep up with daily life requirements. Yes,...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for 36 years, together for 40. He suffers from anxiety and depression and has chosen alcohol as his drug of choice. He thinks he is not an alcoholic because he can quit for weeks and even months at a time.

We have four grown children and five grandchildren. The kids all talk about their dad's ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband's side of the family has been really close his whole life, and it's a large family. When the pandemic hit, we lost touch with a lot of people. Then we lost a few members of the family in the last couple of years. Included in that loss was my husband's grandfather, who always threw the summer barbecues. It was a great ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have gotten myself into a bit of a pickle. A few months ago, I ran into an old work acquaintance at the store. We hadn't seen each other in several years. He asked to exchange numbers, and I did, thinking nothing of it. A day or two later, I received a text asking how things were going -- small talk.

Long story short, I found ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am 67 and divorced. I raised two daughters and a son essentially on my own while I worked full time as a registered nurse and provided a decent, middle-class home for my children.

The youngest had issues about almost anything. I got her therapy, along with family therapy. She loved her father but barely tolerated me. Babysitters...Read more

Dear Annie: While I have thought of writing to you many times, I have never done so until now. "Old Soul's" story touched me very much -- the one about being completely cut off from a friend. A few years ago, I had a very dear friend who shared everything. Then, out of the blue, she stopped having anything to do with me. I felt abandoned and ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a 23-year-old woman living with my parents because the cost of housing is so high. This is creating problems, especially in my relationship with my father. He has been disrespectful to me for a long time, at least since I was 18. He makes disparaging comments about my weight, my friends and my life choices.

This in turn has ...Read more

Dear Annie: I wonder if you and your readers can give me some advice. I was ill recently and received a lovely floral gift from a business associate. One type of flower included was on its last legs, while the rest were fresh. The florist also stuffed fern into the water, which created a pretty look but made the water murky and the display ...Read more

Dear Annie: About eight months ago, I met "Len" through a dating app. I'm 71, and he's 81. We clicked right away and started a beautiful relationship. He calls me twice a day and comes to visit me once a week. We go out for dinner and take some road trips once in a while. He never invites me to the house where he lives; he told me that it ...Read more

Dear Annie: I love my job. I love the people with whom I work; yet recently, a member of my office decided on their own that they wanted to purchase an office support pet, despite not needing any additional support in an already sound and safe office environment.

This individual, with their own money, went out and bought a hamster. This ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a 20-year-old girl, and my boyfriend is 24, soon to be 25. We've been dating for about three months, and he's the best boyfriend I've ever had. This is only my second relationship and his fifth. Unfortunately, two of those exes weren't very nice; one cheated on him, and the other left him for another boy.

The other day was my ...Read more

Dear Annie: I always enjoy sharing my baked goods and also my soups with my neighbors. Some will return the favor by making items for me. I never expect them to reciprocate, though I know I always try to reciprocate when people do things for me.

I'm writing to you because now someone is giving me presents that I really don't want. I am always ...Read more