DEAR ABBY: A relative is getting married, and the RSVP date has passed. It was announced many months ago and was to be a big, formal church wedding, with eight or nine groomsmen and bridesmaids, a flower girl and ring bearer, followed by a reception. On the last day of the RSVP deadline, the couple […]

DEAR ABBY: My daughter was 4 when we adopted her. She’s 23 now, going to college and moving into an apartment soon. She has been the center of our lives, since our older children are grown. We have supported her through abandonment issues, lost boyfriends, school, everything. We went through cancer treatment with her. She […]

DEAR ABBY: Three years ago, our 40-year-old daughter, “Tanya,” suddenly accused me of abusing her during her childhood. She also accused my husband, her dad, of enabling this abuse. Abby, the abuse never happened! Could some therapist have planted these ideas in her head? Tanya has problems with alcohol (which she blames on me) and […]

DEAR ABBY: Years ago, I sat over lunch, reading your mom’s “Definition of Maturity.” It was shortly after my dad died, and reading it made me realize how lucky I had been. Those were all lessons I learned at home from my parents. Perhaps this item is in your booklet. But could you print it […]

DEAR ABBY: While I was visiting my father-in-law, a heated conversation turned violent. My husband, “Rob,” was helping his dad and a neighbor with a house project. When Rob’s dad became upset at him, he lifted the power saw he was holding, turned it on and motioned toward Rob saying, “You’re lucky I don’t slit […]

DEAR ABBY: On paper, I’m an accomplished woman. I have a doctorate in Educational Leadership and had a 36-year career in education, mostly as a school administrator. I am financially stable and I have many friends. I also have an overwhelming sense of loneliness, and this is where my issues lie. I was well accepted […]

DEAR ABBY: I’m an only child (in my 30s now) who was raised by an emotionally and verbally abusive mother. When I wasn’t her whipping post, I was an emotional crutch for her and had to assume parental tasks. Since I became an adult, she has violated my boundaries repeatedly. We just don’t have a […]

DEAR ABBY: During my late teens and most of my 20s, I kept journals that filled two full spiral-bound notebooks. I kept them my entire life before reading them for the first time on my recent 70th birthday. I found it to be an enlightening journey through my past on a very personal level, dealing […]

DEAR ABBY: I have known my husband for 10 years. We have been married for four. We love each other very much, but I did something that has caused him to no longer trust me, and he won’t forgive me. I went to a pub while my husband was at a class. I told him […]

DEAR ABBY: My daughter and her husband have been together for 10 years, married for three of them. They have a 1-year-old daughter. I have just learned they may be getting a divorce. My son-in-law is very controlling as well as verbally and emotionally abusive. He yells, swears and slams doors over the littlest things. […]