ArcaMax

Dear Eric: I'm involved with a man whose sister recently died. I rented a car, bought his kids clothes for the funeral and made sure everything was in order. The funeral was out of town. I wanted to be there for support, but he didn't invite me. I took off of work and he left with his kids.

When I told him how I felt about not being invited, he...Read more

Dear Eric: How should I tell my husband he has breasts? He is not a vain man, and I suspect does not study himself in a mirror. He is on many new meds which can result in developing this condition.

For the most part he is fully dressed, but it’s summertime and he may, at some point, want to remove his shirt to swim with friends. I’m sure ...Read more

Dear Eric: Before he passed years ago, my father transferred his beach house to his six adult kids. We did not ask to become owners of a shared house, and I always thought it was a horrible idea.

Most of us kids tend to travel to different places, while one has always loved to vacation at the beach house. My father would hand expenses to those ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am a 33-year-old male on the autism spectrum. I have a friend, "Katie," who has been a big part of my life for the last few years. I have been a mentor and friend for her three little boys, and she, in return, has been a good friend to me.

Katie deals with a lot of anxiety (she considers herself neurodiverse, possibly on the High ...Read more

Dear Eric: My sons are currently 26 and 24 years old. Both went to amazing colleges and currently have six-figure careers. They both moved back home when their colleges shut down for COVID.

Neither son is looking to "launch" from the nest, blaming high costs of living in our area, blaming boomers for ruining the world, etc. They have a bad ...Read more

Dear Eric: My 89-year-old mom is a button-wearing, T-shirt slogan, lifelong Democrat. She is also afraid of confrontation. My younger sister's husband, who leans Republican, forwards my mother texts from Fox News and people on X making fun of Democrats. Sometimes she's so upset she can't sleep because what he forwards may seem funny to him, but ...Read more

Dear Eric: My adult nephew and his girlfriend recently had a child. They are both in their mid-30s and neither has gainful employment. My nephew has also struggled with mental health issues. His mother passed away several years ago, so his remaining family system consists of grandparents, aunts and uncles.

I am trying to reconcile my feelings ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am the grandparent of a now 24-year-old grandchild. Starting in high school and continuing through college he was not fully engaged – he did not turn in homework, missed classes. In steps "helicopter grandma" (a high school counselor and former teacher) who is unable to accept this.

What followed is eight long years of torment on...Read more

Dear Eric: One of my offspring has cut off all communication with her father, my ex-husband. He hasn’t even met his 4-year-old grandson. My other child has a close relationship with my ex.

The daughter in question claims my ex was not a good father. He certainly wasn’t a good provider; I supported the family financially. He was likely ...Read more

Dear Eric: Twenty-six years ago, I became friends with another woman at the company where I used to work. We're retired now.

The odds of us becoming friends seemed remote, since we seem to be opposites in personality, but our friendship has endured.

In all these years, we would get together for lunch at random times. In the fall of 2022, I ...Read more

Dear Eric: The manager at my place of work volunteers with a group that’s not related to our work. The volunteer group works with the court system to help women in recovery from substance abuse access community resources.

My co-workers and I hear our manager interact with other group volunteers when they occasionally meet at our workspace: ...Read more

Dear Eric: I’m a 52-year-old mother and grandmother. My daughter and granddaughter live with me due to some bad life choices my daughter has made. It’s very clear to me that being a mother is not high on her priority list nor does she have the energy or motivation to step up.

I have basically become a mother again as I tend to my ...Read more

Dear Eric: My sister-in-law’s husband passed away several years ago. Over the years, my husband and I only saw them occasionally for holidays. A year after her husband passe d away, she suddenly announced that she would be moving back to her hometown where we reside.

She purchased a home in a 55+ community 15 minutes from our home. As a ...Read more

Dear Eric: My mom and her partner have been together for 20 years. This winter, my mom informed me that, upon the advice of their financial adviser, they’d be getting married this year.

I have zero issues or concerns about the man she’s marrying, but knowing the reason is based on a financial “nudge” for tax bracket purposes, insurance ...Read more

Dear Eric: I recently discovered my husband was messaging/talking to three women through the dating portion of Facebook. I saw messages on his phone from one woman and a phone call for 44 minutes.

I confronted him and he said he was trying to learn how to communicate and he was not cheating.

I decided that if he thought this was OK, then it ...Read more

Dear Eric: I'm in my late 50s, my husband is in his early 70s. While he's always been incredibly intelligent, he has also always had a very poor memory. We believe he might also have ADHD.

As he's aged, his memory and decision-making has worsened. Several years ago, we had him baselined by a neuropsychologist, then re-evaluated twice. His ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am 75; my brother is three years older. I’m dying of Stage 4 renal cancer that has metastasized. Before that, I tried many ways and many times to explain why I didn't like spending time with him.

I don't like the person he is. I didn't like his parenting that was demeaning to his adopted son, nor that he said my stepchildren ...Read more

Dear Eric: I had a stroke in 2017. My husband passed away in 2022. This stroke was quite debilitating for me. I could not walk, sit up or stand.

Little by little, I’ve regained some abilities through hard work and therapy. I still can’t walk at all unless I have an orthotic device on.

My husband was wonderful in so many ways after my ...Read more

Dear Eric: I grew up in a degree of poverty. Most of my friends have done "OK" financially.

All of us but one is now retired and she is hoping to retire soon at age 73. She's continued to work as she's worried about not having sufficient funds during retirement. The other two have to pinch pennies a bit and many decisions are made based upon ...Read more

Dear Eric: I found out recently that I have a half-sister who lives 15 minutes from me. I have not communicated with her so far.

It looks like the baby was born about 10 months before my parents’ wedding and was put up for adoption by my dad and this other woman.

I think this child called my parents’ house in the early ’80s when she ...Read more