ArcaMax

Dear Annie: I live in a 55-plus community and have met many people and made lots of friends since moving in here. I am not a prude, but I find it very disturbing how the F-bomb and swearing is so prevalent in this community. I'm in my 60s, a baby boomer, a Christian and not a sheltered person, but I'm extremely annoyed by this behavior, ...Read more

Now that you've assembled a group of medical experts, I'm going to suggest you find the need to use them as seldom as possible -- which is my way of saying you should feed yourself well. Here's how:

--Give your mealtimes importance by thinking about their goodness. While you're eating, consciously appreciate the food's taste, the love you've ...Read more

Dear Annie: From the outside, my life looks steady and full. I have a thoughtful husband, grown children who stay in close touch, dear friends and work that gives my days purpose. I know I am fortunate, which only makes it harder to admit how much I am struggling in private.

For years, I have carried pain from things that happened to me when ...Read more

Dear Annie: My wife and her sister have always had a close but delicate relationship. They can talk for hours, laugh about old family stories and check in on each other several times a week. But every so often, something shifts, and my sister-in-law becomes sharp, angry and deeply hurtful toward my wife. The source of it almost always goes ...Read more

Dear Annie: About six months ago, I grew close to a woman I had known casually for some time. She had recently come out of a painful breakup, and what began as friendship quickly turned into something much more emotionally intimate. We talked every day, shared deeply personal things and became part of each other's routine in a way that felt ...Read more

I don't travel to become someone new. If anything, travel makes it clear to how many versions of myself were already there.

There is the practical version of me, the one who moves through airports with a kind of quiet competence. The one who makes the flight, finds the hotel, knows when to speak and when to listen. And then there are the other ...Read more

Dear Annie: I used to think I had decent self-control. Now I'm not so sure.

Somewhere along the way, Instagram became the background music of my life. I wake up and reach for my phone before my eyes are fully open. I tell myself I'm just checking the weather or answering a text, but my thumb already knows the route: Instagram, stories, scroll...Read more

Dear Annie: I love your advice and the fact you're able to cut to the chase. I find myself in need of your level head, too!

I've been (mostly) happily married for 26 years. My husband is very gregarious and never met a stranger. In fact, he happily opens up his life to anyone and everyone. I feel like he constantly overshares, but as long as ...Read more

Dear Annie: My friend insists on splitting every restaurant bill "evenly," no matter what. The problem is, she always orders cocktails and appetizers, while I usually stick to one entree.

Last week, my $22 dinner somehow became $48 after the "split." When I suggested we each pay for what we ordered, she laughed and said, "That's so much more ...Read more

Dear Annie: My neighbor and I became friendly during the pandemic. We'd pick up things for each other at the grocery store, help water each other's plants, chat on our porches in the evening.

Somewhere along the way, she decided we were much closer than I did. Now she'll drop by unannounced and even text things like, "I miss you, haven't seen...Read more