ArcaMax

Dear Eric: My daughter will be 37 in a month but has never been able to completely support herself. She has a degree from a good university but is unable to keep a job for more than a year or so.

She presently works as a restaurant hostess at a high-end restaurant. She has lived with her younger boyfriend for five years with no plans to marry. ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’m 24 and recently started seeing a guy I’ve had a crush on for six months. We finally went on two dates and both went incredibly well. He was affectionate, introduced me to his friends, cooked me dinner, even cleared a little space on his bathroom shelf for my toothbrush. It all felt very sweet and intentional, and I left his ...Read more

I got this interesting question recently, and it made me think. And when things make me think, you know I have to write about them!

Q: How do I balance ‘You deserve zero red flags’ with the reality that no one is perfect? Thank you!

A: Those are VERY different things. A red flag, by my definition, is objective: Someone is rude to people. ...Read more

Dear Readers: On November 9, I answered a letter from someone who was trying to find a way to acknowledge her impending divorce in her Christmas cards, which would contain a photo of the letter writer and her kids, sans soon-to-be amicable ex. I made a few suggestions and invited you to lend your wisdom. Here are a few great suggestions and one ...Read more

Dear Eric: Recently, I was trying to figure out how two friends of mine, James and Jon, had decided to stop talking to me and not continue our friendship. And it wasn't based on anything that happened between any of us. But then, upon thinking about what we all had in common, there was our mutual friend Paulo.

And then I realized what must have...Read more

Liz Dunnebacke isn’t dying, but for a recent end-of-life care workshop in New Orleans, she pretended to be.

Dunnebacke lay still atop a folding table that was dressed as a bed, complaining that her legs hurt. Registered nurse Ana Kanellos, rolling up two small white towels, demonstrated how to elevate her ankles to ease the pain.

“ Mom�...Read more

Dear Eric: My son is turning 40 on December 22. My husband and I are at a quandary as to how to celebrate him.

There have been issues between my husband and him over things from his childhood. We did a special trip for his older brother when he turned 40 and would like to do something special for this son's 40th as well.

Our daughter-in-law ...Read more

Dear Eric: I've just turned 40 this past year. The last 15 years I was in a horrible drug addiction. I lied and hurt and did terrible things to a lot of people, especially my family.

About eight years ago they officially disowned me. Understandable.

I've cleaned up and got my act together six years ago. At first, I tried to force my way back ...Read more

Dear Eric: My daughter-in-law decided a few years back to have a Friendsgiving dinner which she hosts a couple of weekends before Thanksgiving. She invites her family (as her mom has never done Thanksgiving) and then a bunch of her and my son's friends.

In my mind I know this shouldn't bother me, but it does. I waited my "turn" growing up and ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Dressed in “Team Lisa” T-shirts, two friends posing as savvy business-minded “Sharks” ran through a tight presentation of why any potential investor in the audience would be smart to date their friend.

“When you invest in Lisa you invest in your own future,” they said, as part of their “Shark Tank”-themed ...Read more

Dear Eric: How does one politely suggest to an in-law's relative that we don't need to exchange Christmas gifts? My significant other and I are at the stage in life where we really do not need more "stuff" and would rather not deal with gifts that are generic at best and usually are re-gifted promptly via donation or gift-economy communities.

...Read more