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DEAR READERS: Happy New Year! Can you believe that 2025 has passed us by already? It's hard to grasp, and yet here we are. Take a moment to breathe and reflect on all that occurred in the past year. What did you learn? How did you grow? What do you need to work on moving forward? Be honest with yourself -- and also be kind to yourself.

Now look...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: A friend came to a dinner party and brought with her the tin I had given her at Christmas. It had been filled with homemade curried nuts, and she had eaten those and washed out the tin. She apologized for not returning it sooner and left it on my kitchen counter.

Last Christmas, I gave another friend some small packages of ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've read plenty about empty-nest depression and how to cope with it, and I managed that stage just fine. I enjoyed my grandchildren and watched them grow into teenagers. But now I'm struggling with something different: how to handle the emptiness of the holidays.

I have two sons. One has always made sure I get time with his ...Read more

DEAR READERS: Welcome to 2026! A New Year has arrived; the last one is safely behind us. As always, this New Year brings with it our hopes for a new beginning.

Today presents an opportunity to discard destructive old habits for healthy new ones, and with that in mind, I will share Dear Abby's often-requested list of New Year's Resolutions -- ...Read more

Married or not, each of us walks single file through life's landscape, because everyone has a "single" part, our unique individuality -- separate and apart from the crowd. Yet from time to time, we may travel in lockstep, two by two, when someone we like comes nearby and walks with us. Drawn by love's force, this person may stay with us for a ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My son rarely calls me or reaches out to me, and it makes me question whether I did something wrong raising him. He is now a sophomore at a college halfway across the country. I was sad to see him go away, but I assumed he would call me first sometimes. I thought wrong; if I want to hear from him, I need to call him. What hurts ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: At a company holiday party, one of my colleagues decided not to partake of the wine that was offered. During a round of toasts, she was admonished -- in a good-natured way -- by co-workers, for raising her water glass. They said toasting someone with water is bad luck.

Aside from the luck angle, is there an etiquette rule ...Read more

Dear Readers: Before we rush into a brand-new year, I want to pause and say thank you. Thank you for reading, for writing in and for trusting me with the parts of your life you don't always share at the dinner table. Thank you for letting this corner of the page be a place where we can talk about the messy, meaningful work of being human. I ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I recently got cast on a game show that I've watched for years and I've always wanted to be on! This is a dream come true and very exciting; however, filming it takes about 45 days. I don't have enough vacation time from my job, so if I go on the show, I would have to quit my job. I didn't think that I would get this far in the ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: When I meet new people and tell them where I earned my bachelor's degree and what my plans for the future are, I frequently get comments and questions such as, "Wow, you must be really smart," or "Did you do well on the MCAT?" or "What was your GPA?"

Having been raised to consider this information personal, I am unsure how to...Read more

Dear Annie: Every December, my life starts to feel like one of those "year in review" videos -- only mine looks more like the blooper reel.

Back in January, I sat at my kitchen table with a brand-new planner, a cinnamon latte and all the determination in the world. I even wrote, "This Is Jenna's Year" in big blue letters on the first page. I ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am a very overweight woman, but down 50 pounds from my top weight and continuing at a consistent, but slow, rate to lose. My A1C is now down to pre-diabetic, so I know my efforts are making a difference. I recently had a terrible bout of sciatica and pain in an arthritic knee, which kept me from some anticipated travel.

A good (so ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My husband and I got into a fight, and I feel like it revealed a lot about what he thinks about me. For context, I was going on a work trip for two days, and I asked my husband if he could take care of the dog and be there when the handyman came over to fix our bathroom sink. I had already scheduled the time when the handyman was...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: When did people become so insecure that they take offense at pretty much everything?

I've noticed a huge shift. Compliments given by strangers are now considered an insult or an attack against their feelings. A mom is insulted, a woman with a pretty hairstyle is offended, someone with a nice outfit is annoyed. "You look nice ...Read more

Dear Annie: I think my partner is slipping away from me, and I do not know how to reach for her without breaking both our hearts.

My wife, "Laura," is 68. We have been together for 40 years. She has always been the organized one. When the kids were young, she could tell you where every permission slip, tax form and missing sock lived in our ...Read more