ArcaMax

DEAR ABBY: My 18-year-old daughter recently broke up with her boyfriend. She caught him on the phone talking with another female, and there were other signs of his cheating as well. She's devastated, and so am I. I really liked the guy, but he obviously didn't care for my daughter or her feelings.

I told my daughter everything will be OK in ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My boyfriend and I have been together for about five months now. When he first asked me to be his girlfriend, he said he was ready for a serious relationship. I'm starting to feel like he doesn't have any time for me, and I'm questioning whether he's as committed as he claimed to be. He's always either working or traveling, and ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My spouse and I are friends with a couple, one of whom is in a band. This band put on a show at a local restaurant, and we went to show support.

We arrived prior to the start of the show, around 7:30, and enjoyed the music, applauding loudly and singing along to the songs we knew. However, as it got later and later, around 11...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a college student, and I just finished my finals for the fall semester and am now on winter break. Right toward the end of finals week, one of my professors had a medical emergency and had to miss our final day for surgery. My entire class sent her supportive emails, including me, but I find myself still worrying about her. ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My friend of 30 years passed away two years ago. Her husband, with whom I had a cordial relationship, has been calling me and other friends of his wife nonstop. He usually calls with irrelevant nonsense.

One time, I decided not to answer any of his many calls per day. When I finally felt guilty and answered, he was furious. He ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My best friend and I have been close since high school; however, recently it feels like she's started to ghost me. She doesn't answer my calls anymore, and when she does respond to my texts, her replies are short and vague, as if she doesn't really want to talk to me. We live in different states now, which makes it harder to stay...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: This time of year, it often rains in the afternoon, and so I carry an umbrella with me. However, many people do not.

On occasion, it will start raining when I am in a crowd -- at the ballpark, for example, or waiting for the light to change on a crowded sidewalk. If I open my umbrella, then the rain that hits it falls onto ...Read more

Dear Annie: My wife and I have been very blessed. We both were able to find and keep jobs in our chosen fields and worked through the years without any layoffs, slowdowns, serious illnesses, etc. We made good middle-income wages, and we always lived within our means while saving for retirement. We made some good investments along the way, and ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My fiance's daughter is having a baby. Her mother is helping give the shower. My fiance and his ex have been divorced for 21 years. She was the one who cheated, asked for the divorce and kicked him out. She threatened not to attend her daughter's wedding because he was bringing me. We have been together nine years now.

I am not ...Read more

DEAR SUSAN: I find myself in an unbelievable situation. My fiance died three months ago after a long battle with cancer. Six week later, his best friend's wife died after her own fight with the same kind of cancer. That friend was wonderfully supportive of me during my fiance's illness, phoning me every day and continuing to call to see how I ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I am one of those people who tries to make a New Year's resolution just about every year. As you might imagine, it doesn't usually work. I stay focused for a week or so, but something always distracts me. This year I want to be better.

I really need to lose weight. It's serious -- for my health. My doctor told me I had to do it,...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Lately it has seemed that the phrases "We're pregnant" and "They're pregnant" have been subsumed into acceptable usage.

Although I'm not a doctor, last time I checked, only women get pregnant. There is no biological reality where a woman and her partner are both pregnant with the same baby. Hence, "My partner is pregnant" or ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have mobility issues and use a walker, so I'm mostly confined to my home. My son helps by taking me to the beauty salon and occasionally to the bank or pharmacy, but I spend most of my time at home.

Today, two ladies showed up at my door unexpectedly. I hadn't been up long and wasn't dressed for visitors, and my house was far ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I were together for 11 years, married for six of them. I had an alcohol addiction for the last few years, which led to my being unfaithful. He never drank, so he had a hard time understanding my addiction problem. After I got a DUI, he finally left me.

Two weeks later, he was already in another relationship! We ...Read more