ArcaMax

We’ve all been there: Someone we don’t know extremely well—maybe a work colleague or friend of a friend—sends a biting text that immediately causes you to raise your eyebrows. You may ask friends, “Hey...what do you think this means?” Internally, you’re debating whether you should ever talk to this person again ... or if it was ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've been married for 16 years, and lately, I'm not sure I want to stay in this marriage.

I've always been the steady one -- the saver, the planner, the person who makes sure the bills get paid and there's something set aside for the future. My wife, on the other hand, has always been more impulsive when it comes to money. Over ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm in my early 30s and have been dating someone for nearly two years. On paper, he is everything my parents could have hoped for. He has a stable career; he is kind, respectful, family-oriented and well-liked by everyone. My friends and family think I have hit the jackpot.

The problem is, I am not sure I feel the kind of deep ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been together for 13 years and married for 10. We've always had what I believed was a stable, loving relationship. In all that time, we've only had a handful of arguments -- certainly nothing major or frequent.

But recently, during a heated disagreement, he said something that completely shattered me. In the ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a 57-year-old woman, and I've been in an off-and-on relationship for nearly 11 years with a man who is 30. Yes, there's a big age gap, but in the beginning, it felt like we truly connected. We got married, and for a while, I thought we had something special.

But over the years, he's developed a pattern: he leaves -- sometimes ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a retired, divorced man who had a fulfilling career, but I now struggle to find female companionship. I was mostly focused on my career and got married in my mid-40s, partly out of loneliness, and together we have a daughter in her 20s. Looking back, I don't think I was ever truly in love with my ex-wife. Still, I've never ...Read more

Years ago, during my single-mom-and-widow phase, fear was very much the biggest part of my emotional baggage. A whole family of what-ifs would wake me in the middle of the night and start droning their litany of fear. What if my son never again has a father? What if I get sick and can't care for him? What if that nice man I just met doesn't call...Read more

I'm probably not supposed to admit this, especially as a writer, but I'm not afraid of AI. I don't think it's here to steal our souls or our jobs. In fact, I think it might help us rediscover what's uniquely human and how we feel about those core principles of ourselves.

According to the general vibe on social media, AI is the next tidal wave ...Read more

The Second Look at a promising someone is among my favorite mental delicacies because it changes shape and importance as life (mine, anyway) moves you into new situations. And truth to tell, in my experience, each one seems to ask for (and impart) greater patience, deeper understanding and more worldly wisdom.

The main challenge of the Second ...Read more

It started with a comment during school pickup, something my mom said about the china plates she remembered from her parents' home. The delicate plates and cups, which were kept behind glass, were reserved for use only once or twice a year. I mentioned that the china was a good metaphor for the differences in our generation. Hers kept some ...Read more