ArcaMax

Dear Eric: I’m a grown woman in a healthy relationship with two children of my own, and I can’t stand being around my dad. I’m resentful of him for a childhood full of emotional abuse that I feel has stunted my personal development. I’m working hard to get through that and reach my fullest potential, but I still really can’t stand ...Read more

Dear Eric: My cousin (more like a sister) has been making some extremely rash and concerning choices over the last year. After she had her second baby, she left her husband and started seeing a series of borderline-abusive men. She is now in the process of signing over full custody of her children to her ex-husband and is impulsively buying a ...Read more

Dear Eric: Soon after we had our first child, my wife uncovered a repressed memory that she had been sexually abused by her father when she was 18 years old.

I’ve always encouraged her to share this burden with her brother, but she is flatly against it. While I understand that, I’ve been reading up on how that trauma affects women later in ...Read more

Dear Eric: I live in a very rural and rather remote area where you can count "neighbors" on one hand. My husband and I made friends with one who lives about five miles away; we're not "close" but she and I share a lot of common interests, have shared meals, house and pet sitting, etc.

Recently I texted her and told her we were applying for a ...Read more

Dear Eric: My brother and I were estranged for many years at his insistence. We were able to reconcile after our father’s death when I gave him a larger portion of the estate than my father had willed to him.

My brother has some health issues which he picks and chooses to take the advice of his doctors. During Covid he became sick and had to ...Read more

Dear Eric: Often when I make a comment or tell a story my husband corrects me. If I try and defend what I've said, he just implies that I'm wrong and he's right. It can be embarrassing when we are out socially. Most of the time I let it slide. Because if I try to point out that I'm correct and he's wrong, he just carries on as if he's right. At ...Read more

Dear Eric: My husband is in his mid-80s and I’m in my late 70s. My husband has always suffered from anxiety, whereas I am calmer.

Over the years, my husband has used various anti-anxiety drugs under a doctor’s supervision and found one that works. He has tried some mindfulness techniques, but at times of high anxiety, he doesn’t use them....Read more

Dear Eric: My brother passed in 2023. He was not married and had no children. He left an estate of $1.5 million. My two sisters and I split his estate equally and have finally closed the estate. From the start, my older sister's husband protested that we should not split the estate equally. He says we should have split it to "level the ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am a 76-year-old man. My best friend is a woman who is 75. Her son and daughter-in-law have an 11-year-old and two little children under three. The son very frequently asks her to provide child-care for overnights and weekends. They are very active and seem to always have plans for ski and bike trips, hiking and camping trips, and ...Read more

Dear Eric: My sister is a little person and is currently unable to walk without a scooter or crutches. Last year she slipped and hurt her hip. She’s waiting to have surgery in another state. I am her only sibling that lives in this state.

She gave up driving a few years ago. When she wants to go somewhere, she relies on me. She has a son in ...Read more

Dear Eric: A few months ago, I discovered I was not invited to my niece’s wedding this summer. She is the daughter of my only sibling. I was told when I asked my sister if I needed to save the date. I have attended my sister's other two children's weddings.

I should include that I am an adult, ASD Level 1. Most people would be familiar with ...Read more

Dear Eric: Kate and I have been friends for more than 20 years. Over 10 years ago, I would’ve almost considered us best friends. My husband considered her husband his best friend. As years went by, Kate treated her husband so disrespectfully. Time went by and their children spoke to him terribly, too.

Unfortunately, he passed away ...Read more

Dear Eric: Over the years my husband and I have given our son and daughter-in-law many gifts such as kitchen appliances, furniture, a car and other expensive items. These gifts have always been presented to both of them.

Our daughter-in-law has never acknowledged this. We don’t understand why. Our daughter-in-law has a very strong personality...Read more

Dear Eric: I belong to an organization that raises money for the less fortunate. Recently, I hosted an event to raise funds for children with disabilities. One of my guests acted very rudely toward my chef and the waitresses. I filed a complaint against this person, there was an investigation, but the results were that my complaints were not ...Read more

Dear Eric: We’re two seniors in our late 70s, dating two years. He divorced after a 50-year marriage – she initiated it. I had two short marriages early on; one child. I have had several short relationships and one seven-year relationship, though not living together. The man I’m dating is old-fashioned and unable to stop questioning me and...Read more

Dear Eric: My friend Glenda recently got engaged to a man she's only known for nine months. I'm certain she would have married him after much less because he fits in with what an ideal or "fairytale" life looks like. She is very much a "look at me" person on social media, and having a partner after being single for so long is a real moment for ...Read more

Dear Eric: My niece contacted me and said she was coming to a college reunion near me. She wondered if she and her family could stay at my home during the weekend. I was happy to have them, and they had a good time. My wife and I cooked several meals for them and loaned them a car. Their final evening, we all went out to dinner (six of them ...Read more

Dear Eric: Recently I ran into a friend who invited me for coffee with another friend. I don't care for the other friend because he is misogynistic and opinionated. I didn't explain any of this and politely declined the offer, but I felt no explanation was required.

If this comes up again, do I owe this person reasons why I don't enjoy the ...Read more

Dear Eric: My sister (85) and I (80) have been estranged for about five years. My niece invited us for Thanksgiving dinner just before this fallout. She was also inviting relatives of her fiancé who are active Scientologists, a religion that has a well-documented distaste of homosexuals.

I am in a long-term same-sex marriage, and I expressed ...Read more

Dear Eric: I have had the same dentist for the past 15 years. Within the last year, I have found myself wanting to know him on a personal level. I know he is not involved in a relationship, and he seems interested as well. How should I proceed?

– Makes Me Smile

Dear Smile: First, find a new dentist. The American Dental Association’s Code ...Read more