DEAR ABBY: I have been married for 40 years. When I married “Hugh,” I thought he was the nicest man I had ever met. We have two grown children of whom we are both very proud. Hugh was laid off 19 years ago and said he was going to take “a little time off.” Abby, […]

DEAR ABBY: In high school, I had a close male friend, “Adam.” After graduation, I moved out of state. We remained friends for a while in college, calling, writing and visiting each other. He often declared his love for me, but I was interested only in a friendship. As with most high school relationships, we […]

DEAR ABBY: My nephew is 19. I have been co-parenting him and his sister since they were 15. He has some issues that are normal for his generation. What isn’t normal is his inflated sense that life is all about him. If it doesn’t benefit him, he doesn’t do it. I have been giving him […]

DEAR ABBY: I was diagnosed with chronic heart failure seven years ago. It has no cure. I want to see and do more before my life is over. My husband and I have been married 29 years. After talking about this with my therapist, I was finally able to express it to my husband. He […]

DEAR ABBY: My husband died three years ago, and I met someone shortly after. This man is kind and loving, and he treats me well. He happily moved with me to another state to be near my family. I’m 67, and he is 63. I’m retired, and hopefully have enough to live on for the […]

DEAR ABBY: I have an older sister I’ll call “Vicky,” who has been a hypochondriac for as long as I can remember. Every sniffle, cough or sneeze is always a dayslong or weekslong complain-a-thon about how sick she is, and sometimes these illnesses or injuries are simply invented for attention. While this has always been […]

DEAR ABBY: I am 76. My husband and I planned our final wishes for cremation because I have had a lifelong fear of being buried underground. My children from my first marriage are Jewish and very much against cremation. When I told them my wishes, they attacked me with a barrage of negatives about cremation, […]

DEAR ABBY: My mother-in-law is an attention-seeker. She’s very loud and talks in a baby voice so that everyone looks at her. She made my wedding shower and, years later, my baby shower all about her and the gifts she gave. Not only did it take the spotlight from my husband and me, but it […]

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are in our early 70s. We have been married seven years. I was celibate before we met and thrilled to have a partner I respected and was attracted to. Our sex life seemed normal and exciting with lots of kisses and hugs throughout the day. Recently, I caught him […]

DEAR ABBY: My adult daughter is single and lives alone. She lives five hours away but manages to visit every two months or so. The problem is, when she comes home, we hardly ever see her. She’s mostly at her cousin’s house. During her most recent visit, we saw her a total of one hour […]