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How Can I Tell My Elderly Mother That She Can’t Live With Me?
A reader still picking up the pieces after a recent divorce is wrestling with guilt for not wanting to take his mother in, knowing she wouldn’t hesitate to help him.
By Philip Galanes
A reader still picking up the pieces after a recent divorce is wrestling with guilt for not wanting to take his mother in, knowing she wouldn’t hesitate to help him.
By Philip Galanes
A reader’s brother-in-law is insisting that she accompany her children to his 1-year-old’s birthday party, even though attending would require her to miss an important funeral.
By Philip Galanes
A reader who was made to choose a college based on price is struggling to understand her parents’ support of her younger sister at an expensive private school.
By Philip Galanes
Stung by the revelation that her sister frequently took her clothing without permission in their youth, a reader is baffled by the disclosure: Was it expressly to hurt?
By Philip Galanes
A reader’s uncle and aunt were touched when she sent them a Christmas card, but her sister thinks the gesture was a betrayal of their father’s memory.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is anxious about the language barrier keeping her from bonding with her partner’s friends. A two-week group vacation has ramped up the urgency.
By Philip Galanes
After 20 years in a house that was never meant to be a “forever home,” a reader thinks it’s time for a move, but her husband refuses to consider her wishes.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is fuming after a friend lied about her efforts to get a wig made for a sick child, and thinks her other friends should know about the deception.
By Philip Galanes
When a woman tries to remedy a relative’s unequal generosity to her children using her own estate, her daughter-in-law wonders whether her husband is being shortchanged.
By Philip Galanes
A reader has been feeling left out by her husband’s siblings-only dinners — and never more so than when her brother-in-law crashed a recent get-together.
By Philip Galanes
Although his wife has long maintained that she doesn’t want to know the identity of her birth father, a reader is tempted to find out on her behalf.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is torn between attending a final dinner with his uncle, who has terminal cancer, and supporting his father, who wasn’t invited because of an old grudge.
By Philip Galanes
A reader’s wife sees bigotry in their exclusion from group photos at a nephew’s wedding, but her husband is reluctant to write off his relatives for good.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is angered by friends who list their homes with other real estate brokers — sometimes without giving his husband a chance to make his case.
By Philip Galanes
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A reader’s feelings are hurt after offering to fly to celebrate her sister’s 70th birthday only to be told not to bother, as “all her family” would be there.
By Philip Galanes
Two years after one of her children received a generous birthday gift, a reader wonders whether to intervene on behalf of her overlooked child.
By Philip Galanes
Four years after being laid off, a man in his 50s is still relying on his father, who just moved into an assisted living facility, for support and housing. Should his sister say something?
By Philip Galanes
Put off by pitying displays of concern for her son’s paralysis, a reader wonders how to handle a well-meaning friend whose support misses the mark.
By Philip Galanes
A reader had hoped that her grandmother’s ring would stay in the family, perhaps to pass on to her daughter, but her former sister-in-law has so far refused to give it back.
By Philip Galanes
After supporting an old friend through years of incarceration with letters and shipments of books, a reader wants out, put off by the woman’s lies about her situation.
By Philip Galanes
Reunited with her son after half a century, a reader feels slighted by her seat at a family wedding, where her son’s wife had already made her feel less than welcome.
By Philip Galanes
Frustrated that she and her partner live too far away from his parents to reap the benefits of free grandparental supervision, a reader wonders how to broach her feelings of being cheated.
By Philip Galanes
After offering his brother lodging for his course of radiation therapy, the man informed him — with one day’s notice — that the invitation was contingent on an apology for a long-forgotten letter.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is distraught that a woman she’s estranged from has been added to her most treasured circle of friends. Is there anything she can do to reclaim the group chat?
By Philip Galanes
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Months after the bulk of their mother’s estate was divided and paid, a reader’s sister is seeking to keep a remaining balance of $150,000 as payment for her work as an executor.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is left wondering how to patch things up with irked neighbors after an understandably preoccupied friend left the reader’s dog alone to bark all night.
By Philip Galanes
After her son responded with interest to the idea of moving back home to raise a family, a mother is hurt to realize that he never intended to keep her around.
By Philip Galanes
Years after traveling cross-country for her sister’s “fake wedding,” a reader feels slighted as both a guest and a taxpayer — and in no mood to have her over for the holidays.
By Philip Galanes
Now that her children’s grandparents have a second home just a few minutes away, a reader finds herself struggling to keep up with (or politely deflect) their unplanned visits.
By Philip Galanes
On the hook for the lion’s share of care for her homebound mother, a reader wonders how to get her out-of-state siblings to pick up the slack — or at least the phone.
By Philip Galanes
Parents who installed a camera in the eye of their daughter’s stuffed bear ask how — and whether — to come clean about their surveillance now that she has left for college.
By Philip Galanes
A mother feels an urge to send her sympathies to the family of her son’s classmate who recently died, but she worries it could be an upsetting overstep.
By Philip Galanes
A reader feels conflicted about attending celebrations as a friend of the family when the woman who was her original connection won’t be there. Should she bow out?
By Philip Galanes
A reader feels frustrated by her husband’s daily expectations of sex, which she worries may be a sign of something more troubling.
By Philip Galanes
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A couple is eager to be closer with their new friends, but they worry that insisting that guests arrange for child care will start the relationships off on the wrong foot.
By Philip Galanes
A new wife is eager to join in the fun after her husband and brother-in-law wrap up their weekly jam sessions, but she’s reluctant to impose on her sister-in-law.
By Philip Galanes
Unsatisfied with her middle-aged son’s meager displays of gratitude, a reader wonders whether to stop footing his bill for a yearly camping retreat.
By Philip Galanes
A reader wonders how best to call out male friends and co-workers when they dismiss her assessments of her own health.
By Philip Galanes
A retiree is mystified as to why his new wife is willing to pay for her share of groceries and utility bills, but refuses to chip in for property taxes and insurance premiums.
By Philip Galanes
A reader is dreading his son’s engagement party, where he expects to encounter not only his estranged ex-wife, but a constellation of former in-laws.
By Philip Galanes
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