ArcaMax

Dear Annie: I am a single mother to my one daughter, who is now 29. She moved from our hometown because that's where she met her husband, and she now has a son, my grandson, who is 1 1/2 years old. She asked me when she first got pregnant if I would move down to where they live to babysit Monday through Friday for them. Long story short, I did ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married less than a year, and I'm pregnant with my first child. Our baby was planned, and we were thrilled.

Something changed with my husband once I hit the second trimester. If I read something about pregnancy and try to share it with him, he instantly shuts me down, saying I shouldn't believe everything I...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I grew up as an army brat, and while there were many positives to that experience, it also came with significant challenges that I'm still grappling with as an adult. My family moved frequently during my childhood -- sometimes multiple times within a single year.

Each time we moved, I had to leave behind friends, schools and ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was brought up to always be polite to others, but as I reach 50, it seems that society cares less about this.

Sometimes even ordering a coffee is fraught with potential misunderstanding. Common decency is misinterpreted as "hitting on" someone, when all I'm doing is trying to be nice. Sometimes I feel like just being abrupt...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I plus our four children currently reside in a first floor apartment. I love this because I don't have to tell the kids to tiptoe everywhere so as not to disturb the downstairs neighbors. However, our upstairs college neighbors are extremely heavy-footed and always sound like they are on an expedition. We have only ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I recently ended an 18-year marriage that should have ended many years earlier. While I was deciding to leave, I met the most wonderful man, "Winston." He treats me like a queen -- the polar opposite of my former husband.

My former home was sold during divorce proceedings, and I took Winston up on his offer to move into an empty ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have always had a fear of heights, which has made me hesitant to try things that involve being up high. However, one item on my bucket list has been going skydiving in Dubai, and I'm determined to conquer this fear. I know that facing my fear head-on would be a huge personal achievement, but the idea of jumping out of an ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: One of my in-laws will wait for a person to finish speaking, then say something on a completely different subject. No "hmmm," "interesting" or any other noncommittal word to acknowledge what the other person was talking about.

If someone mentions an upcoming job interview, for example, he will talk about an unrelated story in...Read more

Dear Annie: I've been best friends for over 50 years now with a girl I was neighbors with growing up. When I was about 12, I remember coming home from her house upset over the way her dad had treated her. He was always very cold and abrupt, and he treated her as less than he did her older sister.

I confided in my parents about this, and they ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband is miserable. Five years ago, he was fired from his job of more than 25 years, and the small issues he had with depression, alcohol and smoking have multiplied exponentially. He sleeps until 10 or 11 a.m., showers only two or three times a week, rarely eats and has a drink in his hand by 4 or 5 p.m. every day. He now ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I have been fighting with my sister about her behavior around me and my family for years, and it's reached a breaking point. I have two daughters, ages 7 and 9, and every time their aunt comes to visit, I'm left feeling frustrated and upset. My sister has a habit of using crude language, making inappropriate jokes and displaying ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: When I visited my family with my newborn son, they could not stop talking about how handsome he was -- and how much cuter he was compared to his sister (my first child, who is 3 years old).

On that afternoon alone, I must have heard the words, "He looks much better than his sister" at least 15 times from my mom and my sisters...Read more

Dear Annie: My son is in a relationship with a young woman who had three children prior to meeting. They have had two additional children 11 months apart. "Jordan," his girlfriend, grew up in foster care. She went through some rough stuff. When she became pregnant with my son's first child, I vowed that I would treat her children like they ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: As a 22-year-old gay man, I have tried dating apps to no avail. One guy was 10 years older than me, ex-military (Air Force) and extremely clingy in the first few hours of texting. He said he was "deeply in love with me," "wanted a future with me," etc.

The other guys I tried talking to never tried to keep a conversation going. I don'...Read more

When was the last time you took a trip? A genuine, out-of-neighborhood venture, not a trip to the local amusement park sort of thing. Well, dear heart, I'm here to encourage you to start planning a major motion. And the first step is going to a travel agency to look through its travel brochures. The conversation between the two of you will lead ...Read more