DEAR ABBY: We recently lost our dog, a 13-year-old springer spaniel, to old age. His passing has left a huge hole in our hearts and lives. We miss his companionship, his personality and the structure that caring for him brought to our lives. We’re 51 and 60, own our home and are financially secure. Some […]

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, “Jimmy,” and I have been together for two years. After about four months, out of necessity we moved in together and it was great. Not long afterward I got a job two hours away. Since I moved, we get to see each other only every two or three weeks. The separation […]

DEAR ABBY: I live in Israel, and for the past five years I’ve been having an affair with a great guy I’ll call Yuri. I married very young to a man who is kind and very Orthodox. I love my children and grandchildren. Yuri thinks we should leave our spouses and make a fresh start. […]

DEAR ABBY: Our granddaughter, “Kim,” is a senior in high school. She wants to study in Europe next year to improve her skills in a second language. Neither she nor her parents can afford the $20,000 or more this will cost. She is also “boy crazy.” Another worry is the threat of terrorism and her […]

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have been friends with another couple, “Bill” and “Emily,” for 20 years. We usually have dinner together once every four to six weeks. In the past, everyone enjoyed a cocktail or a glass of wine with dinner and nobody overdid it. But over the last year or so, it […]

DEAR ABBY: My girlfriend and I live together. We adopted a cat off the street. A few months later, the cat became pregnant and had four kittens. We ended up keeping two, and now we have three cats in a one-bedroom apartment. I’ve tried being OK with it, but it’s making me stressed and unhappy. […]

DEAR ABBY: I lived with my mother, who passed away recently. I invited my cousins over to the house for Thanksgiving. One of them invited a cousin-in-law I had never met. When I woke from a nap, the cousin-in-law was here and asked me about our walk-in bathtub, which means that while I was asleep […]

DEAR ABBY: I moved overseas for work when I was 18. My father divorced my mom around the same time. I used to come back to the U.S. for two weeks every year to visit and stay with Mom. However, for the past eight years she has sent me emails “suggesting” in a roundabout way […]

DEAR ABBY: I am the mother of four. My children are wonderful, but they really don’t listen. Instead of sitting down and talking to them, I scream and call them names. Then, after they go to sleep, I feel extremely guilty. My 12-year-old girl struggles in school. I have tried to be calm and help […]