DEAR ABBY: I’m a 17-year-old senior with a single, very controlling mother. It’s impossible to have a sit-down conversation with her because she’s always working to support us. She works as a dog groomer. She’s always polite to her customers and friends, but she turns into a witch when it’s just her and us kids. […]

DEAR ABBY: I’m a 27-year-old professional who works long hours at a hospital. Dating isn’t easy for me, so I decided to try an online service. My first time online I recognized a co-worker I see on a regular basis and have always exchanged smiles with, but don’t know personally. I wrote him a message […]

DEAR ABBY: “Darrel” and I have been married 28 years. I thought we had an easy, comfortable relationship. We have no children; it’s just the two of us with a large family of furry animals. We don’t take vacations together because one of us has to be home to care for the animals. Last year […]

DEAR ABBY: I’m a 45-year-old married woman with four kids. I fell in love with a longtime friend, “Hugh,” two years ago. He’s single and has never been married. I told him I want a relationship, but he says that since I’m married we can’t have one. I told him I love him, but he’s […]

DEAR ABBY: “Fed-Up Father in Minnesota” (Jan. 20) caught his difficult 16-year-old daughter smoking pot and is considering sending her to a place for “troubled teens.” We sent our son to such a program on the advice of an education consultant, and he almost didn’t make it back alive. An untreated mental illness had been […]

DEAR ABBY: What do you think of a grandmother who has her 7-year-old grandson sit in a baby car seat when she’s driving? The boy weighs 65 pounds and is 4 1/2 feet tall. His parents don’t want to cause a rift with her, as she helps them after school. He looks ridiculous and must […]

DEAR ABBY: My daughter just celebrated her first birthday, and I’m trying to come to terms with the fact that my father isn’t a “baby person.” He has tried holding “Krissy” only twice. He and his wife showed up to her party an hour and a half late and left early. The gift they brought […]

DEAR ABBY: My handsome, 21-year-old son, “Dylan,” has a beautiful girlfriend and a 14-month-old child. They have been together for three years. Dylan works out of town. He gets back late on Friday afternoons and leaves again on Sunday afternoon. The problem is, he goes to bed soon after he gets home and then goes […]

DEAR ABBY: Years ago I lost my beautiful wife. We had been married for more than 30 years. I bought a plot at the cemetery for both of us, and she’s buried there now. I have since remarried and have been blessed with another wonderful wife. There are no spaces left next to the existing […]

DEAR ABBY: I would like to tell “Possibly Paddled Pledge” (Jan. 13) that joining a sorority was one of the best parts of college for me. It taught me about interpersonal communication, the importance of philanthropy and academics, and networking. I learned skills I would not have gained had I not joined. My sorority had […]