ArcaMax

Dear Eric: I am having some trouble with keeping up at school on my grades. I feel

like it’s because of my job and working five days a week but it feels like I cannot tell anyone that. If I tell my parents, they’re going to want me to quit my job and work on my schoolwork more, but I am just not ready to give up my privilege of making my ...Read more

Dear Eric: My husband’s best friend of 18 years has a wife, “Martha,” who is bipolar. She self-medicates with THC. I’ve become uncomfortable being around her. My husband is supportive of my feelings, to a point. He doesn't want to lose John's friendship, which I totally understand.

Two weeks ago, Martha had asked me to come over. The ...Read more

Dear Eric: I (38F) am done having kids and have always thought I'd be a gestational carrier. I'm interested in helping someone build their family and have a little extra for my kids’ college funds. My husband is supportive of whatever I'd like to do. I was originally going to work through an agency but met a couple through a mutual friend that...Read more

Dear Eric: I was married for 27 years to a wonderful woman who has passed away. We lived in a Female-led Relationship (FLR) which meant she was in charge of most things. We made joint decisions on the big things, but for the most part, what she said was what we did.

Included in this was discipline for me, including assignments such as standing ...Read more

Dear Eric: My best friend from high school moved to town again and we’ve been hanging out more. Her sister-in-law asked me if I can be the godmother of her child, which I’ve agreed to.

But ever since I’ve agreed I’ve been involved more in their family drama. Recently, the sister-in-law vented to me about some family drama, but also told...Read more

Dear Eric: Our youngest brother has made some poor decisions in his life, and he knows it. While he's had a destructive life overall for more than 40 years, he is now a recovering addict but also has serious health concerns in his early 50s.

He finds himself on the verge of homelessness, in the early stages of some kind of severe illness (...Read more

Dear Eric: I’m a grown woman in a healthy relationship with two children of my own, and I can’t stand being around my dad. I’m resentful of him for a childhood full of emotional abuse that I feel has stunted my personal development. I’m working hard to get through that and reach my fullest potential, but I still really can’t stand ...Read more

Dear Eric: My cousin (more like a sister) has been making some extremely rash and concerning choices over the last year. After she had her second baby, she left her husband and started seeing a series of borderline-abusive men. She is now in the process of signing over full custody of her children to her ex-husband and is impulsively buying a ...Read more

Dear Eric: Soon after we had our first child, my wife uncovered a repressed memory that she had been sexually abused by her father when she was 18 years old.

I’ve always encouraged her to share this burden with her brother, but she is flatly against it. While I understand that, I’ve been reading up on how that trauma affects women later in ...Read more

Dear Eric: I live in a very rural and rather remote area where you can count "neighbors" on one hand. My husband and I made friends with one who lives about five miles away; we're not "close" but she and I share a lot of common interests, have shared meals, house and pet sitting, etc.

Recently I texted her and told her we were applying for a ...Read more

Dear Eric: My brother and I were estranged for many years at his insistence. We were able to reconcile after our father’s death when I gave him a larger portion of the estate than my father had willed to him.

My brother has some health issues which he picks and chooses to take the advice of his doctors. During Covid he became sick and had to ...Read more

Dear Eric: Often when I make a comment or tell a story my husband corrects me. If I try and defend what I've said, he just implies that I'm wrong and he's right. It can be embarrassing when we are out socially. Most of the time I let it slide. Because if I try to point out that I'm correct and he's wrong, he just carries on as if he's right. At ...Read more

Dear Eric: My husband is in his mid-80s and I’m in my late 70s. My husband has always suffered from anxiety, whereas I am calmer.

Over the years, my husband has used various anti-anxiety drugs under a doctor’s supervision and found one that works. He has tried some mindfulness techniques, but at times of high anxiety, he doesn’t use them....Read more

Dear Eric: My brother passed in 2023. He was not married and had no children. He left an estate of $1.5 million. My two sisters and I split his estate equally and have finally closed the estate. From the start, my older sister's husband protested that we should not split the estate equally. He says we should have split it to "level the ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am a 76-year-old man. My best friend is a woman who is 75. Her son and daughter-in-law have an 11-year-old and two little children under three. The son very frequently asks her to provide child-care for overnights and weekends. They are very active and seem to always have plans for ski and bike trips, hiking and camping trips, and ...Read more

Dear Eric: My sister is a little person and is currently unable to walk without a scooter or crutches. Last year she slipped and hurt her hip. She’s waiting to have surgery in another state. I am her only sibling that lives in this state.

She gave up driving a few years ago. When she wants to go somewhere, she relies on me. She has a son in ...Read more

Dear Eric: A few months ago, I discovered I was not invited to my niece’s wedding this summer. She is the daughter of my only sibling. I was told when I asked my sister if I needed to save the date. I have attended my sister's other two children's weddings.

I should include that I am an adult, ASD Level 1. Most people would be familiar with ...Read more

Dear Eric: Kate and I have been friends for more than 20 years. Over 10 years ago, I would’ve almost considered us best friends. My husband considered her husband his best friend. As years went by, Kate treated her husband so disrespectfully. Time went by and their children spoke to him terribly, too.

Unfortunately, he passed away ...Read more

Dear Eric: Over the years my husband and I have given our son and daughter-in-law many gifts such as kitchen appliances, furniture, a car and other expensive items. These gifts have always been presented to both of them.

Our daughter-in-law has never acknowledged this. We don’t understand why. Our daughter-in-law has a very strong personality...Read more

Dear Eric: I belong to an organization that raises money for the less fortunate. Recently, I hosted an event to raise funds for children with disabilities. One of my guests acted very rudely toward my chef and the waitresses. I filed a complaint against this person, there was an investigation, but the results were that my complaints were not ...Read more