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Tero Vesalainen/Dreamstime/TNS

These photos don't belong in your profile

Life Advice / Dating Advice /

As anyone who's swiped on Tinder, Hinge or Bumble can attest, some of the photos our eyes come across, well, leave a lot to be desired. In fact, the photos you choose can make or break your profile before someone even reads your bio (which will obviously be well-crafted if you’ve been taking my advice!).

In my 13+ years of helping people with...Read more

Asking Eric: Siblings try to overrule mom’s care plan

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: I am one of four siblings. I live close to but not with my 102-year-old mother while my siblings live far away. Over the past 12 years, I have gradually taken over a lot of her care, although she generally makes her own decisions and is financially secure. She is dependent on me for cooking, shopping, appointments and company.

After ...Read more

Thoughts for Autumn

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Readers: Hope you are all having a lovely fall. Please see below some poems that help embrace the season.

"The Wild Swans at Coole" by William Butler Yeats

"The trees are in their autumn beauty, / The woodland paths are dry, / Under the October twilight the water / Mirrors a still sky; / Upon the brimming water among the stones / Are ...Read more

Asking Eric: Family doesn’t check in after disaster

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: My husband and I are hurt and disappointed in our two children, both adults in their 40s. We were predicted to be in the direct path of hurricane Helene in Georgia. She changed her path slightly to the east, and we didn't get the worst of the hurricane. However, we were hit with massive rain and extremely high winds. Also, we live in ...Read more

Finding Peace in Family Conflict

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: I have a daughter who hasn't spoken to me for almost 20 years, though she still maintains contact with her father. My husband and I have been married for 40 years, but our relationship has been extremely difficult for me. I've felt trapped in the marriage because I worked as an aide in a classroom, earning about $20,000 a year, and...Read more

Yulia Gapeenko/Dreamstime/TNS

Is dining with strangers the cure for loneliness? These people think so, thanks to a new app

Life Advice / Dating Advice /

PHILADELPHIA — On a Wednesday night around 7, Morgan Steffy arrived at El Rey in Philadelphia's Center City area, following directions from an app she had downloaded two months ago. The app directed the 30-year-old West Philly software engineer to sit at Table 2, where she joined a Temple University doctor, a nomad who works in health care ...Read more

Asking Eric: Husband refuses to use bathroom inside

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: This letter is probably best read after that first cup of morning coffee. My husband of 50-plus years has a habit of peeing outside, even though his office is equipped with its own bathroom.

His dad and uncle did the same thing, but they chose an old patch of ivy for their “offerings.”

My husband stands over beautiful ...Read more

Overwhelmed by Ice Cream

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: I read your column every day, and I read with great interest the letter from the wife whose husband had an affair 20 years earlier. She was bitter that none of her friends told her about it.

I found myself in a similar situation, only I was the friend, and I DID tell her that her husband was cheating on her. This was 35 years ago.

...Read more

Falling Outside the Lines of Purity

We all want consistency, clarity, and conviction from leaders and movements we support. But in practice, chasing ideological purity can become a trap, leaving no room for the ambiguity, complexity, and compassion a functioning society needs. Ideological purity assumes people and ideas are simple, that we can shove ourselves into neat boxes of "...Read more

Asking Eric: Boyfriend won’t give up toxic friend

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: I have been in a wonderful relationship for a year now with a man who treats me like a queen, and we have plans to eventually get married. We happen to have a mutual friend, whom I have actually known for many more years than he has. The mutual friend is known by many as a toxic person who is also an egotistical bully, and I believe ...Read more

Boundaries and Breakthroughs

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: I just read today's letter from "Help," and it deeply resonated with my own experiences. Like "Help," I had a narcissistic mother and spent years struggling to reconcile my relationship with her while searching for my own happiness and balance.

Living with someone who has narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is extremely ...Read more

Asking Eric: Stepparents cut stepdaughters from wills after parents’ deaths

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: My parents divorced when I was 5 and my brother was 3. He went with our father and I with our mother. We saw each other on holidays and summers. Both parents remarried and had two more children. There is a seven- to nine-year gap or more in our ages.

My brother and I were treated less like family and more like a resentment. ...Read more

Fed Up With Mom's Mess

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: My elderly mom wants to move from her house in the country to a smaller home in town. This is her idea, and she's already looking for a house. However, she has a house, a garage and a barn full of stuff. I estimate that it will take us about six months to sort through, dispose of, donate, etc., the excess stuff if we are allowed ...Read more

Asking Eric: Ex-wife’s lies causing a rift with kids

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: I divorced my wife after 25 years of marriage. After she went on some medication for depression, her personality changed, and she became unfaithful with a series of men.

I never told my three children (now adults, early 30s) about the affairs to protect their relationships with their mother.

Over the last five years, she has ...Read more

Supporting a Struggling Friend

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: I have a friend I'll call "Scott." We have known each other for 15 years or so and have been retired for the last few years. He enjoyed working before he retired due to a plant closure.

Now Scott drinks from 8 a.m. until 2 or so in the afternoon. He is in good spirits in the morning but is an absolutely depressed person by 2. He ...Read more

Asking Eric: Friend holding a 10-year grudge over Easter dinner

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: I tend not to tell people they hurt my feelings because it seems rude to critique. I am now in a situation that seems like a deal breaker.

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with a person I consider to be a very good friend. This is someone I see a few times each month and with whom I have traveled.

My friend was very excited about a new ...Read more

Is It Meant to Be? Navigating Red Flags With an Old Flame

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: When I was 17 years old, I met a lovely guy here in Canada. We met through a mutual acquaintance. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, we went our separate ways.

Then, in 1992, I moved to Portugal. I was 20 years old. He was 25. He was in Portugal on vacation in 1993 and looked me up. He was living in Germany at the ...Read more

Single File: The Wise 30s

Life Advice / Single File /

Dear Susan: I used to only date men who were taller than me. But now I'm engaged to someone almost 3 inches shorter than I am, and honestly, he's such a great person I couldn't care less. (From the internet)

Dear Blogger: At last, good sense makes a comeback! (I don't know your age, but I'll bet my shiny new printer you're upwards of 30. That ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Ask Anna: Forget red flags -- here are 5 green flags of a supportive partner

Life Advice / Dating Advice /

Dear Anna,

I'm a 41-year-old woman, just getting back into dating after an eight-year relationship, which ended a little over a year ago. In the past, I’ve spent so much energy looking out for red flags that I realize I’ve never really paid attention to the good signs — the green flags. As I’m starting to date again, I want to approach ...Read more

Macrovector/Dreamstime/TNS

Feeling stuck in dating

Life Advice / Dating Advice /

A few years ago, I received this emotional question from a former client. I appreciated how she allowed herself to express her feelings in such a raw manner and thought it might be applicable to other readers.

“I’m really struggling with my love life lately. Over the weekend, my family got together for my mom’s birthday, and both of my ...Read more

 

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