ArcaMax

DEAR ABBY: I am a 67-year-old man who has two sisters. Recently, I was at my younger sister "Mitzi's" house, installing some blinds. While there, I received a phone call from my girlfriend. (We have been together nine months, after my wife passed last year.) My girlfriend and I were discussing finances, including the topic of my older sister, "...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Four months ago, my 15-year-old oldest child was killed in a car accident. It has been really hard. My husband and I are doing our best to take care of our younger children and put our lives back together.

One thing I don't know what to do about is all the mail I have received from my estranged relatives. None of them came for the ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am a 54-year-old mother of two, a wife and a full-time teacher. My days are long, busy and usually uneventful. Every evening, I am expected to call my 84-year-old mother, who lives a few states away. I oblige, of course, listening patiently to all of her stories, ranting and gossip.

If, for any reason, I happen to fall asleep or ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My parents divorced when I was in high school, and Dad kept the house I grew up in. I'm in college across town and have my own place, but I still visited Dad often. As a teenager, it used to be my job to cook the family dinner two nights a week. I loved it and continued to cook when I was visiting.

Dad now has a serious girlfriend ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband is going to be 70 next month. He is in good physical shape but has taken up smoking marijuana every day. He says he is addicted. I have told him how much I hate that he uses dope. He quits for a while and then goes back to it.

We have been married almost 50 years. I would be disappointed filing for divorce, but I am ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I was diagnosed with colon cancer five years ago. After two surgeries and three hospital stays, I recovered. The experience made me realize at 62 that it was time to downsize. I moved my husband and myself into a smaller, one-story home in a lovely retirement community.

I have now been diagnosed with incurable metastatic cancer. I'm ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My sister, "Jenny," and I have had a falling-out and no longer speak. She's upset with me because she found out her adult daughter, "Paisley," had moved without telling anyone.

I discovered it when Paisley had some mail sent to my house and later revealed she had moved across the country. Jenny and Paisley were no-contact; they had a...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been a registered nurse for 11 years. I am experienced in hospital floor nursing and clinic nursing, and I have always been well regarded in my field. I have never had a problem forming positive relationships with my co-workers.

I recently moved to a new unit. Although the workflow is slightly different than what I was used to...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm an older gay male with many gay friends, but I have never come out to family, although I'm confident most of them know or suspect my sexual orientation.

I invited my cousin and her husband to a small get-together before an event here in the city near my house. I also invited a few close (gay) friends who were attending the event....Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are blessed with a 6-month-old son, "Tyler." I'm now back at work three days a week. My mother and my mother-in-law offered to watch him one day a week, which we were grateful for. (I found a babysitter for the third day.)

I give my mom and my MIL gift cards to their favorite restaurants because each is giving up a ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I was married for 20 years to a man who slowly isolated me from friends and family until I had no one but him to rely on. Now 49 and divorced, I am without close friends. For the last two years, I've been actively trying to build connections. I go to church and volunteer, rent a plot at the community garden to meet other gardeners, ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I've been happily married for 31 years. I love my wife, but we are now more like roommates or friends than the lovers we were initially. We are also not soulmates. We both agree that few couples are.

But I MET my soulmate three years ago. The initial chemistry was amazing, and we have been "dating" ever since. I put "dating" in ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am a 50-year-old single mom who is extremely close with my 20-year-old daughter, who is away at college. I haven't dated for 12 years, partly because I did not want distractions from parenting.

Recently, a young man has contacted me for a casual relationship. These are my issues: He's 21. My daughter would be disgusted, and I could...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I have been incarcerated for 21 months. I stay in contact with my immediate family, except for my brother. I suspect that he slept with my girlfriend a couple of weeks before I came to prison, although I'm not 100% sure. He tells our family members that it isn't true and that he wants me to reach out. But I don't know if I can until I...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I recently reconnected with a woman I dated briefly in the 1980s and haven't seen since. She's around my age. We both were married one year apart, had daughters one year apart, and got divorced after 20-year marriages. She spotted me on a social media site and suggested I call her to "catch up on things," which I did.

This led to an ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I made a terrible mistake moving 2,000 miles across the country to be closer to my grandchildren. In the past, I have always noticed my son and daughter-in-law treated the other grandparents better. They roll out the red carpet for my daughter-in-law's parents. They arrange outings with them, take photos and post the special ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband passed away four months ago. I miss him terribly, but I'm ready to move on. I want to begin dating, but I don't know how to go about it. Some may say it's too soon, but I couldn't care less what people think.

I have my eye on several men I think may be interested, but they're not paying much attention to me. I think they'...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My son is 20 and a senior in college. He's a baseball player and is about to ask the girl he's been dating for a year and a half to marry him. My wife and I don't get along with her at all. She has a myriad of health problems and takes eight prescriptions a day. Because of her conditions, she rarely has the energy to do anything but ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: For nearly 30 years, my husband and I shared a close, trusting marriage. Months ago, I caught him lying about meetings he was having with a 35-year-old colleague. Then I discovered months of ongoing texts. When I asked for an explanation, he became angry and defensive. His explanation was it was work-related, that I was too ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband has four grown children -- one from his first marriage; three with his late wife. Talk about drama! Who talks to whom? Who can't stand whom? Who gets annoyed when one of them comes to visit us? They could be BFFs today and tomorrow stab each other in the back.

Recently, my husband has been saying he'd like to see his four ...Read more