Life Advice

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Ask Anna: My partner won't step up--am I helping or enabling?

Life Advice / Dating Advice /

Dear Anna,

I’ve been with my boyfriend for three years, and I love him—he’s funny, supportive and kind. Right now, we’re living at my sister’s place while saving for our own apartment. He’s 29 and I’m 27. I work full-time as a freelance writer and make a comfortable living, but his part-time retail job barely covers his own ...Read more

Asking Eric: Stepson has plans for widowed stepmother’s next chapter

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: My husband passed away 12 days ago after an extended illness. I have two step-kids.

Two days after my husband died, one of the kids started asking for some of my husband’s belongings then unveiled his plan to “help me build a house” on some vacant land I own to “fulfill my husband's dream.” I was taken aback. I told him I ...Read more

When Your Child Shuts You Out

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: I'm a 48-year-old gainfully employed man living in Denver with my wife of many years. Our marriage, while respectful and supportive, has evolved into more of a platonic partnership over time. We are navigating a difficult season as parents.

My daughter, who just turned 18 and attends college, is spending her summer in Seattle. ...Read more

Single File: Healthy Brainwashing for You (Part 1)

Life Advice / Single File /

Trust me. What I'm about to suggest is beneficial. Yes, it may fall into the category of auto-suggestion, but it's the healthy kind. So healthy, indeed, it may very well make you stronger and abler to bring your life in line with your deepest wishes. And isn't that what we all want? Now that we're agreed on that, let's move on to the good stuff....Read more

Hanna Ferents/Dreamstime.com/TNS

Ask Dating Coach Erika: How do I make sure I'm mastering first dates?

Life Advice / Dating Advice /

While a lot of the advice I give revolves around how to get the first date, even more important is how to nail that first date.

Let’s take a look at some tips for the all-important first date:

What not to do on a first date:

1. Be late without notice

2. Be excessively late, with or without notice

3. Have your phone out or text ...Read more

Asking Eric: Husband accuses good Samaritan of bad intentions

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: I've been married to a great guy for the better part of 30 years. We are empty nesters, and during Covid-19, I agreed to help my male cousin who became homeless.

I knew my husband wasn't wild about the idea, but he didn't fuss about it, so we let him move in. Fast-forward five years: he’s still living with us.

I figured I...Read more

Confidence Without Oversharing

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: Thank you for your strong and thoughtful letter about keeping relationship details private.

I have noticed there seems to be a kind of unspoken "girl code" that makes some women feel it's perfectly acceptable to ask personal questions about someone's sex life -- as if those boundaries don't apply among friends. I have always found...Read more

Asking Eric: Friend always runs off at the end of meals

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: My friend has a particularly troubling habit.

When we go out to eat with someone else, after we finish eating and are just sitting around talking, she, without fail, will suddenly announce she’s got to go and jumps up and leaves almost immediately.

When it’s just the two of us out to eat together, this never happens. Not once.

...Read more

Searching for More

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: I am a 72-year-old widow, and most days, I feel like I'm simply fading into the background of life. I lost my husband in 2018, and in 2023, I lost my oldest son. The grief has taken a toll, and so has my health. I now wear a colostomy pouch, and because of that, I rarely leave the house. I have no transportation of my own and rely ...Read more

Asking Eric: Parents find visits with son’s family increasingly stressful

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: I have a problem that seems to be getting worse with time. Our son is married and very happy. He lives in another state from us so it is always a quick visit to see each other, which happens usually twice a year.

The problem is my husband and I really don’t enjoy our visits. They’ve become very stressful. Time with a grown child ...Read more

Familiarity or True Connection?

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: I wanted to follow up on a letter you published on June 21, 2025, about my complicated relationship with my sister-in-law, who I started to develop romantic feelings for after the death of my wife (her sister).

Since your response, I had a long and emotional conversation with her. Things had been awkward between us ever since we ...Read more

Millennial Life: None of This Is Normal

I used to use the website, the Wayback Machine, to find incriminating teenage poetry on long-lost LiveJournal accounts written by people who are now normal accountants and thought their old emo phase wasn't going to haunt them. Yesterday, I used the Wayback Machine to see a government website delete parts of the Constitution.

The chaos is real,...Read more

Asking Eric: Neighbor sends bereavement card for a person who is still alive

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: I have a kind, retired neighbor who I infrequently see, but who is always warm and friendly when we cross paths. Nearly a month ago, my wife received a sympathy card from her expressing condolences on my passing, appreciation for what a good neighbor I was and hoping that my memory would be a blessing.

It was a lovely card, but as ...Read more

Hostility at Home

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: I recently moved into a small building with only eight apartments. Just three days after moving in, I was in a serious car accident that left me hospitalized for two weeks. I'm now back home recovering and on medical leave from work.

Unfortunately, instead of a quiet, supportive environment, I've been met with hostility. If I make...Read more

Asking Eric: Sister has too many opinions about nephew’s wedding

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: I’m conflicted about whether or not to invite my sister to my son’s wedding.

My sister and I have never been close. She was never very kind to, nor interested in, my son, my husband or me. We’ve had entire decades of silence while she lived a relatively chaotic life. She’s divorced, estranged from her adult children and her ...Read more

Not My Package, Not My Problem

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: I have a new neighbor who recently moved in. She orders a lot of things online, which I have no problem with. However, there've been times she's had her packages shipped to my house or to other neighbors' homes. Why she does this, I don't know.

At first, I had no problem with it and would just walk her packages across the street ...Read more

Asking Eric: Old friend invites herself on trip with new friends

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: I have a friend I have known since third grade. She lives in another state. Recently, I went on a trip with three of my other friends in the state where this friend lives. She is a very good friend but quite opinionated and comes on a bit strong.

Since we were close by, she asked if she could join us. I felt uncomfortable asking my ...Read more

Same Secret Shatters Our Second Chance

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married nearly 15 years and have three young children. Until about five years ago, I would have described our marriage as good. Then he suffered an injury that left him with chronic pain and depression and caused him to emotionally withdraw from me -- while I carried the extra household, yard and child ...Read more

Asking Eric: Friend’s erratic driving causes concern

Life Advice / Asking Eric /

Dear Eric: My friend and I are in our mid-70s. We participate in several activities together – a book club, a continuing education class, et cetera. We often carpool together. I have begun to be very alarmed about my friend’s driving habits. She brakes unexpectedly, veers across the center line and seems quite distracted. I’m more and more...Read more

Sister-in-Law Strikes Back

Life Advice / Dear Annie /

Dear Annie: I never thought that I would be writing a complaint to one of these columns, but here it goes. I married my husband 12 years ago, and I was excited because that meant (well, I thought) that I would be getting seven sisters. My husband is the only boy among seven girls.

Well, his youngest sister has an attitude as thick as molasses...Read more

 

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