ArcaMax

Dear Eric: I live in an apartment with my 22-year-old daughter. She had a really bad high school experience that was broken up by Covid, so remote learning didn’t go well either. She eventually got her diploma but since then has not been able to find a job. We are going on about a year and a half now. She applies but doesn’t even get ...Read more

Dear Eric: My 40-year-old daughter has been living in a house with a very nice older, recently retired gentleman for about 10 years. He has an adult son and daughter-in-law who are drug addicts.

Recently, because of domestic violence in front of their 4-year-old child, the daughter-in-law was arrested and has an order of protection to stay away...Read more

Dear Eric: I am a 58-year-old woman who was diagnosed with cirrhosis three years ago. I did not have an alcoholic problem but had to give up drinking due to the condition.

I do admit I miss alcohol; however I’m doing well every day except for holidays or events. It triggers me when I have to be somewhere where everyone else is drinking and I ...Read more

Dear Eric: My wife and I have been married for more than 40 years. She’s great. But a reoccurring point of friction and, really, anger on my part is over the dishwashing and laundry at our house. She’ll let them accumulate beyond what I can stand.

So, long ago, I began just doing all of my own laundry and cleaning up the kitchen.

Most ...Read more

Dear Eric: There's a gal in my social circle who makes a habit of attending birthday parties and, in addition to the piece or two of birthday cake she consumes at the party, wraps pieces of cake to take home "for my family.” Sometimes she even does it without asking permission.

On my 37th birthday, I had a gathering of about 12 of the gals ...Read more

Dear Eric: I have spent a year helping my elderly parents sell their house and pay off tremendous debt, mostly due to my

mother's spending and hoarding. My father is unable to handle anything due to health issues. I have had help from my family so I'm not alone in this. I am still very involved with helping them with finances and doctors.

They...Read more

Dear Eric: I was in a relationship with a man 45 years ago who I loved more than I loved anyone in my life. Then he married someone. He didn’t tell me, I heard it from a colleague.

I was able to get myself together with a lot of counseling. I married a wonderful man who loves me with all his heart, and I love him the same. I was able to stay ...Read more

Dear Eric: My husband and I are in our early 70s. We're both in good health. We have one child who is an adult and lives independently but close by.

My husband and I enjoy marijuana now that it has been legalized in our state. Between the two of us, we smoke one joint after 7 p.m. about four days a week. We also enjoy it on special occasions ...Read more

Dear Eric: My significant other and I have been together 10 years now. Lately, since he reconnected with childhood friends, we stopped doing things together. We stopped doing things as a family (we have children). He is with them all of the time. I expressed how I felt and gave suggestions on how we can balance and improve, but he only gets ...Read more

Dear Eric: I have had a best friend, Beth. I’ve known her since we were 23 years old. We have not always lived in the same city nor seen each other regularly, but when we do, it’s as if no time or distance has passed. We connect immediately.

My problem is that Beth does not always return texts or calls in a timely fashion. I mean weeks will...Read more

Dear Eric: I have friends who have Alexa in their homes, and I understand that Alexa is a valuable tool when used as indicated. I also understand that it “listens” to any conversation carried on in its presence. This bothers me, because we often have intimate and/or professional conversations.

Is this a legitimate concern, or am I being ...Read more

Dear Eric: I have been attending shows of local bands for more than two decades and have met a very nice group of people who go to these shows and developed many nice friendships. Due to health reasons, I normally sit in the chairs in the back, will wander and socialize at times and sometimes at the intermission I will go up to the front of the ...Read more

Dear Eric: My husband’s brother was a nice guy, albeit boring and a conversation hog. But he was family and we invited him, along with his wife and son, to our home over the years (they lived 500 miles away). He passed away three years ago.

His wife is one of the nastiest people I’ve ever met. She was verbally abusive to her husband, ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am regretfully asking myself if I have morphed into a de facto sugar daddy. I'm in a four-year live-in relationship with a 42-year-old woman. I am 70.

Many might think the 28-year age gap is prima facie evidence of a sugar daddy/sugar baby relationship. However, to date, the relationship has been the best, as it has been adorned ...Read more

Dear Eric: I have been a preschool teacher for more than 20 years. There are a few times throughout the year where the kids and their parents give us gifts, which of course is optional. Those occasions are Christmas, Valentine's Day, Teacher Appreciation Week and Graduation.

I have never asked for, nor do I expect to receive gifts from the ...Read more

Dear Eric: My mother is in her last months of life. She has been cared for in her home for the last three years by increasingly expensive home health care workers. I and other siblings have suggested over and over that she be put in a care home for round-the-clock care, but our oldest sibling (we’ll call them Jimmy) has steadfastly refused, ...Read more

Dear Eric: I'm a 73-year-old female who happily maintained a friendship I made my freshman year in college.

Two years ago, I noticed changes in my friend's ability to carry on conversations and her lack of awareness of current events. After Covid's isolation, she and her husband seldom left their house, and her husband spent more time on his ...Read more

Dear Eric: For Christmas my husband and I travel a few hours and stay at a hotel near our son’s family.

There is a man that works there readying the breakfast buffet. Each Christmas he gets dressed in a very festive outfit. And he mistakenly thinks that trying to bear hug strange hotel guests coming in for breakfast is a good thing to do.

...Read more