ArcaMax

Dear Anna,

I’m a 32-year-old woman and my boyfriend (35) of two years is furious with me because I won’t buy him a $750 Christmas gift. Earlier this year, he paid for my daughter’s dental emergency (around $500) and bought me an expensive piece of jewelry for my birthday ($600). (I didn’t ask for it.) He makes significantly more money ...Read more

Dear Eric: My husband and I have been married for almost 32 years. He’s retired military and works as a civilian. All those years as military he wore the standard uniform, plus boots.

Well, some time back he visited Texas and bought some cowboy boots. Mind you, he had always been the non-clothes horse guy – simple jeans and shoes.

Well, ...Read more

Note that I do not take Urban Dictionary as gospel (I’d have problems if I did!), but when it comes to defining the word “dating,” the usually off-color site does a pretty good job. One of the (many!) definitions says,“…to be in the early stages of a relationship where they go out on dates to find out what each other is like, as a ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am in a 12-step program. We have rules about anonymity and confidentiality, specifically that what is shared in a meeting stays at the meeting, and I trust that this applies to information shared between members and their sponsors outside of the meetings.

In a recent meeting, my sponsor, “Sally," used her sharing time to talk ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am a clergy person with a comfortable office/study at the church building. I love the space. It’s where the great bulk of my work gets done.

I also love my wife.

But she is pretty boundaryless regarding my office space. This is problematic for a few reasons. One is that I often have confidential information about parishioners on...Read more

Dear Eric: I have two daughters. One is in a long-term marriage with an established career. The other, who has less stable employment, recently moved in with her boyfriend of five years.

I am widowed and elderly. Rather unexpectedly, I find that my income, especially the required minimum distribution from my IRA, exceeds my needs by a ...Read more

Dear Eric: My boyfriend and I have been together for more than 15 years. He has children and grandchildren. One child is a divorced, single parent with two teenage kids and one younger. My boyfriend has to be there with them whenever the parent works. And after work, instead of going home, the parent decides to "go out" knowing my boyfriend will...Read more

Dear Eric: I have a friend who is on the opposite side of politics from me. She sent me this message: "After seeing your vile and disgusting lies on Facebook I have no desire to be friends with anyone on the left."

We have never approached any private political conversation as we recognize there is no convincing each other to change our ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’m stuck in an uncomfortable spot between two people I care about, and I don’t know how to handle it without blowing something up.

My partner and my closest friend recently got into a pretty heated argument. It wasn’t about our relationship or someone crossing some huge moral line — it was more a clash of personalities and ...Read more

Q: My extended family always asks me nosy questions around the holiday season. Is there a way I can tell them not to? And if that doesn’t work, what should I say when they ask? I really don’t want to talk about my love life with them. Thanks!

A: I get it. Even if they have the best intentions, it feels so personal, and often invasive, to be...Read more

Dear Eric: My spouse, 87, and I, 84, live in a three-bedroom condo near a popular beach with many attractions. When we were younger, we housed guests frequently.

We cannot move from our home, and we do all our own housekeeping without outside help (which we cannot afford). We've tried to reduce our active living space. We are in very good shape...Read more