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In our social group we have a friend, Joe, who has a severe mobility impairment. He has no intellectual issues but needs help doing even the most basic tasks such as eating, drinking, toileting, showering, etc. Joe uses a very technologically-complex wheelchair to aid in his mobility. I’ve invited him over to my house often and he really appreciates it as most people don’t want to deal with the “trouble.” It’s not much trouble — I just make sure there’s a path cleared for the chair, straws for his drinks, and help him get out of his chair for a bit if he’s there for a long period of time. There is…

I’m a middle class, Catholic woman with a decent job. I always think of others first and try to do the right thing. My boyfriend of five years, however, is Jewish, a partner in a well-known law firm, living in a white collar neighborhood. Money is no issue. He is somewhat of a fitness freak. He never misses a workout even it if means going into work late or rearranging his schedule to get it in. His newest love is CrossFit. He is obsessed with it and the people he works out with. He is on a chat room constantly with these people, and on the weekends when we are together we…

I met my now boyfriend of four years about six years ago when we were both starting college. Now that we have been together, I would like to take the next step in our relationship and start making definitive plans, like say getting married and buying a house. He tells me that, yes, he wants to get married, but right now is too soon for him. And he is very, very, very, wary of buying a house due to student loan debt. We also can’t agree on how many kids we’d like to have. I say I want three or four kids. He gives me the pained look and asks, “Really?”. I…

It’s time again for Shortcuts. For every question, I’ll give my advice in just a few sentences, because sometimes the answer to a person’s question is so obvious and the need to hear it so great, being as clear and frank as possible is simply the best way to go.

I’ve been in a relationship with a moody Capricorn for 4 ½ years. I moved in with him over a year ago and things started out just fine until his ex-wife texted me when I was out of town and told me he was sexting her while I was away. Of course, he apologized profusely and told me that he felt if I left his life it would be the biggest loss ever. Most women would forgive and forget, but to this day I still feel that there is something that he’s keeping from me (call it women’s intuition). Well, four weeks ago I went away for the weekend. I was supposed…

I dated my childhood best friend — let’s call him Dan — for a few years during high school and college. We were both kind of immature — I was selfish and he was very needy and insecure (example: he would get upset if other guys wrote on my Facebook wall). Needless to say, the relationship did not last, but we made sure that the friendship did because we had such a long history. A year later, he met a very sweet girl, Ana, who was perfect for him, and a year after that, I met my now husband, Phil. At the very beginning of my relationship with Phil, I found out that…

It’s time again for Shortcuts. For every question, I’ll give my advice in just a few sentences, because sometimes the answer to a person’s question is so obvious and the need to hear it so great, being as clear and frank as possible is simply the best way to go.