DEAR ABBY: My mother-in-law is 80 and in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. She lives alone an hour and a half from us. She also has a professional who takes care of her once a week. My husband, “Fred,” goes to help and entertain her every weekend, and I sometimes accompany him. She has enough […]

DEAR ABBY: Five years ago, my husband got drunk and physically attacked me in front of his family. It was horrible. I was in shock, and our relationship never recovered. The next four years were a series of court visits for custody of our child and eventually a divorce. Last year, his mother began requesting […]

DEAR ABBY: I was engaged several years ago, but the engagement didn’t last. We broke up and I gave him back his ring. We remain close friends, however, and hang out at least once a week. I have been dating another guy for a couple of years, and we’re thinking about getting engaged. I am […]

DEAR ABBY: My teenaged daughter will be giving birth soon, and she has decided to place her baby for adoption. I have told her that whatever she decides, I will support her decision. Here is the difficult part: This will still be my biological grandchild. When this beautiful child is lovingly handed over to the […]

DEAR ABBY: I am a 12-year-old girl, and my grandpa is 75. I love him very much, but I have noticed lately that he stares at women’s breasts when they are jogging, and he smiles when a gust of wind blows a girl’s skirt up. This embarrasses me, and I am embarrassed for him. He […]

DEAR ABBY: My son’s wife passed away very recently. He works days, so I have been helping him by looking after his 15-year-old daughter, “Leyla.” Leyla recently told her father that her boyfriend, “Dylan,” has asked her to vandalize things — TV, Blu-ray player, etc. — if her daddy enrolls her in a private school […]

DEAR ABBY: I am being married later this year, and I’m planning my guest list. My cousin “Emily” has five young children who I’m making an exception to invite. She lives across the country, so she’s starting to book her plane reservations. Emily just announced that she’s being remarried and her fiance has three children […]

DEAR ABBY: I’m married to the love of my life. I can’t imagine loving a man more than I love “Wayne,” and I know he feels the same about me. The problem is, he’s always telling stories about things he has done, including past relationships, in graphic detail. I have heard all of them repeatedly, […]

DEAR ABBY: You printed a letter from “Self-Conscious in Georgia” (May 15), a young man who is insecure about the scar from his heart surgery. I have had three surgeries for congenital defects, my first at 2 years old. Because many women’s fashions expose the upper chest, I applied anti-scar products, which greatly reduced the […]