ArcaMax

Dear Eric: I have a longtime friend who is downsizing as she prepares to sell her home and move into assisted living. Every time we talk, she shares a story about a unique item and the lucky person who has received it.

I am genuinely happy about this and wholeheartedly support giving away treasures before you die so you can ensure it's going to...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’m a 36-year-old guy who’s been single for a few years, and lately I’ve started wondering whether I actually like dating anymore — or whether I’m just doing it because it feels like I should and because that’s the dominant narrative, the thing I’ve been told to do. It’s not that I can’t get dates. I go on enough of...Read more

Ghosting — the abrupt disappearance of someone you were seeing or taking to — is jarring. It often comes out of nowhere, and it forces you to first wonder what happened to the other person before it sinks in that they did this intentionally. In short, ghosting is cowardly, avoiding a short, difficult conversation to spare yourself being ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am a "third grandma" in a family with several stepchildren and now their grandchildren. The problem is with my daughter-in-law's parents, both of whom are lovely but annoying.

The kids have bonded with them which is great. But her mother is almost always at their house and interferes with any attempts by their other grandfather or ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am finding that I don’t much like getting older. My husband and I have just learned that we need to be closer to medical help, so we must sell our current home, which we love, and move.

We have two sons, both of whom we love dearly, who each want us to build a little home on their property so we can be close enough that they can ...Read more

Dear Eric: I grew up in a silent household. I was a shamed, rejected kid and learned not to speak. One sister was the beautiful favorite. My brother and I were shamed, and we feared our father.

Our divorced mom apparently stole and kept some of my childhood journals. She put them in her desk. When we cleared out mom's home after she died, the ...Read more

Dear Eric: A few years ago, I was directly responsible for saving “Peter’s” life. I did not know Peter before this event and soon afterward he and his family reached out to thank me and ask to meet me, obviously under better circumstances.

I agreed to the meeting and, to be blunt, I regret it completely.

Peter is a perfectly decent ...Read more

Dear Eric: About two years ago, my husband was “invited” to resign his managerial position at a local company. This followed two less-than-great performance reviews which he claimed were the result of not getting along with his boss.

Fortunately, he was able to find another comparable full-time position quickly. He says he likes his job. ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Robert Lyles has spent more than two decades raising children, but he says he is still learning what it means to be a father.

“I don’t know everything,” Lyles said.

With eight children ranging from 23 to 1-year-old, Lyles has learned that parenting looks different for every child. He joined Durham’s Nurturing Fathers ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- On a recent Sunday morning, nearly 50 people in long pants and sun hats, some toting loppers, gathered beside the Mississippi River.

It was the second meeting of the Minneapolis Buckthorn Removal Singles Club, a group of mostly 20-and-30-somethings circling up for an icebreaker.

Attendees shared their dating preferences and ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’ve (19M) been with my girlfriend (18F) for just under four months, and things have gotten serious enough that we’re starting to talk about having sex for the first time. She’s never had sex before, and early in our relationship she told me she’d always imagined sharing that part of herself with only one person. She says if ...Read more