ArcaMax

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I enjoy socializing with a group of women in my community. There is a group text for 14 of us who often get together for social events.

Recently, a few of the ladies discussed how much fun they had had boating, and it was obvious half the group hadn't been invited. This isn't the first time this has happened.

I think they ...Read more

Dear Readers: Wishing you all a very happy Presidents Day. Hope you are having the day off to relax and unwind. Here are some inspirational quotes from past presidents.

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." -- Barack Obama

"It is ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have not had sex for the last four years. I'm not a perfect husband. I have made my share of mistakes -- not always telling the truth, texting other women -- and she has her share of imperfections as well. She has hit me on more than one occasion. She has also pulled a gun on me and stole $1,400. And yet, I find myself ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I'm having roommate troubles and could really use some advice. My roommate refuses to buy any of the shared household items in our apartment, like trash bags, dish soap, paper towels and cleaning supplies. At first, I didn't think much of it, but over time, I've realized that I'm always the one restocking these essentials, and ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I attended two touring Broadway shows, and many families were at each performance. For one show, some people wore costumes: Across from me, a child had on a rather large hat the whole time. At the other show, a nearby child sang along, loudly, to every song they knew.

Is it wrong to expect the accompanying adults to teach ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a 73-year-old widow, and I lost my husband in 2018. I had two grown sons; one passed away last October, and the other no longer speaks to me. He believes I abandoned him, though we were never very close.

In 2012, he convinced me to move into a home he purchased, saying it would be best for my husband and me. Later, he claimed ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have very different approaches to social media; He's all in, and I'm all out. I don't "do" the internet. I don't have Facebook, Instagram, X, Snapchat and whatever else people are using these days. I quit using social media five years ago when I realized how much it was contributing to my stress. Leaving it behind has...Read more

It's never good when you get the doctor on the phone to update you on the results.

This could have been a slightly chirpy column about how this millennial went for her first mammogram. But now it's another essay about the in-between -- before answers, before action.

Thanks to the state of our medical world, I'm now waiting for an unspecified ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've been with my partner for over 15 years and have helped him build his business from the ground up. I handle everything -- paying bills, filing taxes, ordering supplies and assisting customers -- often working 70-hour weeks. Despite my dedication, he once accused me of stealing. I proved my innocence, yet he still makes comments...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am a healthy older woman living alone in a building for seniors. I've known some of my neighbors most of my life. I consider us like a family.

My problem is, my 49-year-old daughter, "Jasmine," has been a pill addict for the last 20 years. I've tried repeatedly to help her. I've begged to get her to go to counseling, but she won't....Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I just moved back to my hometown. After college, I moved to Georgia to teach. I didn't really know anyone there. I had a few estranged cousins I rekindled with, and I made friends with some of my co-workers, but that was about it. I lived in Georgia for three years before the loneliness started weighing on me, so I decided to ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: A friend of my boyfriend posted a years-old photo of a bunch of their friends, and she tagged one person as a way of saying "happy birthday" to them.

The photo included my boyfriend and his then-girlfriend. Their breakup was very hard on him, which everyone knows. Everyone also knows he is doing well now, and has been in a ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've been in a relationship with "Adrienne" for eight years. We've both been divorced for about a decade, and our children, now teens, are around the same age. She has one daughter, and I have a boy and a girl. We aren't married but live a few miles apart, celebrating birthdays and holidays as a "blended" family and enjoying annual...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband is an adrenaline junkie who loves high speeds and fast cars. I am the opposite. I hate riding in fast cars, on roller coasters or anything adrenaline-related. I have explained to him many times that I don't enjoy going fast in his super-fast car, yet he keeps asking me to go with him. I'll do it sometimes, but I hate it. If...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I've been dating someone for almost two months now. Earlier this week, my date suggested going out to celebrate my 35th birthday. It's been a while since I've celebrated my birthday with a woman I'm involved with, and quite frankly, I was flattered.

My birthday came around, and my date took me to a fun restaurant with great ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I've been with my fiance for 16 years. I have a good relationship with his mother, though I wouldn't call us best friends.

We talk and get along well when we go to her house, but she and I don't spend time together on our own -- only when my partner and I go visit her. Her husband died six months ago, so we have been trying ...Read more