Life Advice
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Long-lost mother and son find healing and sweet reunion at bakery
CHICAGO -- Lenore Lindsey did not consider herself a baker when she opened Give Me Some Sugah at age 50 in 2008. Neither did Vamarr Hunter when he took over the South Shore bakery this year at the same age.
The late-in-life knack for baking isn’t the only parallel in their stories, first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. Hunter never dreamed...Read more
Asking Eric: Couple wants to respond to stranger’s insulting their hometown
Dear Eric: My husband and I have just returned from a driving trip in the Southwest. Several days ago, he was standing in a fast-food line when another man started a conversation with him. When the man asked, “where is home for you?” My husband responded by saying "Los Angeles.” The other man said, "I’m so sorry for you."
This is not ...Read more
Asking Eric: Couple wants to respond to stranger’s insulting their hometown
Dear Eric: My husband and I have just returned from a driving trip in the Southwest. Several days ago, he was standing in a fast-food line when another man started a conversation with him. When the man asked, “where is home for you?” My husband responded by saying "Los Angeles.” The other man said, "I’m so sorry for you."
This is not ...Read more
Adult Child Choosing Comfort Over Family Tradition
Dear Annie: I'd love your perspective on an issue I'm having with my adult daughter, who lives in another state. She visits every Christmas for several days but refuses to stay overnight at my home. She claims my guest room is too cluttered and noisy, or she offers other excuses for not staying. Instead, she rents an Airbnb for part of her ...Read more
Asking Eric: Friend insists she’s messaging with celebrities online
Dear Eric: My friend has been totally engrossed with messaging celebrities through Telegram. So far, she has been in contact with four musicians. Two of the four have promised to come visit with her.
After the first celebrity visit fell through, I asked her repeatedly to block this contact. She vacillates between blocking and then unblocking ...Read more
Am I Setting the Wrong Boundaries?
Dear Annie: I have complex feelings about my family, which may come across as harsh, but I feel it's important to explain. They exhibit behaviors that I find troubling, such as a tendency to rely on the more successful members of the family for support without taking accountability for their own circumstances. In their view, refusing to help ...Read more
Millennial Life: The Resistance of Knowing Yourself
I was inhaling a chicken sandwich and watching TikToks at the truck stop before a meeting. My car was off and the windows rolled down a crack. A lady in a car pulled up next to me. She repeatedly shouted hello as I fumbled to restart my car to roll down the window.
She was older and smiling, holding a square sandwich with one hand and the other...Read more
Asking Eric: ‘Very kind’ sister-in-law constantly bad-mouths her husband
Dear Eric: My sister-in-law is one of the kindest and most giving people I know. She volunteers at her church, at our local YMCA and at our golf club. She has driven friends several states away for medical treatments.
However, my brother/her husband of 30-plus years is not a social guy, and this irritates her to no end. She will complain to ...Read more
Should I Reconcile With My Abusive Ex for the Sake of Our Son?
Dear Annie: I was married to my spouse for 34 years, and throughout our marriage, he was abusive. I separated from him two and a half years ago, and we are now divorced. Six months after the separation, he called to apologize for not being a good husband. I asked if he wanted to reconcile, but he had already started seeing someone else just ...Read more
Asking Eric: Sisters disagree over inheritance split
Dear Eric: When my mother passed away, her trust was split mostly between me and my sister, with a small percentage to my sister's two kids. My mother and my sister lived together. My mother put the down payment on their house, and they split the mortgage and utilities. My sister covered most of the mortgage.
I have always imagined gifting a ...Read more
Spotting the Red Flags in an Online Relationship
Dear Annie: I met this guy who seems to be my soulmate. He lives in America, and I'm in South Africa. However, he refuses to meet me and says it's because he is a celebrity.
He is manipulative and constantly makes me cry. He wants me to send him money before we meet, but because I can't -- I just don't have the funds he's asked for -- he has ...Read more
What is the South Korean 4B movement and why are American women claiming to embrace it?
In a TikTok post that’s been liked by more than a million users, TikTok user @rabbitsandtea, who goes by “A,” sits on a couch dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Her long, brown hair untied, she is petting her cat while hawk-like bird calls play in the background. Text on the screen reads: “Doing my part as an American woman by ...Read more
Balancing Passion and Practicality
Dear Annie: I'm a high school senior worried about my future. I still haven't found a major I really want to do, and I'm running out of time. Animation/art is my passion, but I don't want to get my degree in it. I haven't found anything else I'm interested in pursuing. I want to make money without selling my soul to do something I'd hate. How ...Read more
Single File: Ticklish Questions
Parenting is a privilege. Being the main influence in the lives of your children is an honor and a blessing. And at times, a royal pain in the neck!
But single parenting has to be -- hands down -- the most complex, demanding situation in all of the single world. It's exhausting, complicated, seemingly never-ending, emotionally draining -- and ...Read more
Can a planner and a non-planner really make it work?
You’re a planner. You have your calendar color-coded, dinner reservations booked a month in advance, and you know exactly what you’ll be doing on your next vacation, down to which café you’ll stop at for your all-important afternoon iced coffee.
You meet someone who’s all about “going with the flow,” a non-planner who would sooner ...Read more
Ask Anna: Is it wrong to break up because of their toxic family?
Dear Anna,
I've been with my boyfriend for two years now. We’re both in our mid-20s. His family is honestly the most toxic group of people I’ve ever encountered, and it's taking a huge toll on me. They’ve caused nothing but chaos and drama, moving in and out of our place, causing fights, skipping bills and even trashing our house. My ...Read more
Millennial Life: The Targets in the Desert
As I likened the election to an impending airplane crash, the irony was not lost on me that I spent the day after the election on a two-seater prop plane at our local airport with a state senator.
One of the more dicey options for interaction at City Hall, at least how ours is constructed, is just going to the bathroom. One option is the hidden...Read more
Single File: Reasons Why
DEAR SUSAN: The other day, a friend said that I'm angry at men and I seem to resent them, even if they're nice. Any thoughts on why this could be? -- Sallie D., New York City
DEAR SALLIE: There are many possible roots to your anti-male mindset, starting with the family dynamics in your home. I'd like you to scan the whole list of possibilities ...Read more
Ask Anna: How can I move past my boyfriend's cringey DMs?
Dear Anna,
I've been dating my boyfriend (36M) for five months, and recently, I found out that he had quite a reputation for sending unsolicited, borderline harassy messages to women online. A coworker of mine showed me some of his old DMs on Instagram — telling her how hot she was, and asking her out repeatedly, even though she never replied...Read more
'Still single' versus 'single and available'
“In your opinion, why am I still single? I want love to find me!!”
This is a text message I received recently from a frustrated client of mine.
I actually get this question more often than one might think. I replied, “This sounds like a question that can’t be answered over text. But I’ll start here: You’ve had relationships before,...Read more