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I met the man of my dreams – “Erik” – on a solo trip to Alaska. I was from Seattle, he from the Netherlands. We fell in love nearly immediately and were inseparable for the two weeks we were both in Alaska. At first I told myself, “This is just a vacation fling, so get yourself in check. No long term plans or feelings.” Upon returning home, I hoped we could remain in contact and be friends but had no real ideas or hope of it progressing further. Erik pushed for a long-distance relationship and I resisted, reciting all the known challenges. But what really never left me were two feelings: how…

It’s my fiancé’s 30th birthday soon. Let’s call him Ryan. Fifteen days before his birthday one of his female friends, “Rachel,” gave him a gift in the post. He then phoned her and she said she was going to send 30 gifts over 30 days for his 30th. While I think this is a lovely idea, there is a part of me that finds this rather strange. A little background: Ryan and Rachel have been friends for many years, but they talk about once a month and mainly about her. When we got engaged, she cried for days. I get this could be a happy thing, but her husband and I found…

I am writing to get your help to resurrect my friendship with a work colleague who works for me. Basically, she and I (a male) got to know each when she had some problem at work and I helped her resolve it. She also had some issues with her neighbor. Hence, she decided to look for a new house. I gave some practical and first-hand advice based on my recent move. We talked in person and over the phone, texting about a variety of topics in a purely platonic sense. Then one day, since it was getting busy at work, I called her after hours. I confirmed with her that it was…

I have been with my partner for five years, married for two. I have been through the dating mill and was happy as a single woman playing the field in my 20s until I finally found a good man to settle down with. COVID has us both in the house together, and before we worked a lot so we had lots of time apart (which was great as I value my alone time). I know it is normal to feel caged and have our partners get on our nerves, but some issues are looming in our relationship. My husband has always had what I consider a drinking problem, which I have talked…

From the forums: My husband and I have been together for 10 years. In the 10 years we’ve been together, a lot has happened, both good and bad. Full disclosure: Once in college while we were on a break, I cheated on him with a friend, and over the last year I did have an overly friendly texting relationship with a male friend. This texting friendship ended last summer, after my husband found out about it. I have thought about leaving my husband many times through the years due to his behavior and, at times, our incompatibility. He never learned how to deal with emotions well, and he has pretty significant anger…

“I caught my fiancé and my daughter, who is 27 years old and married with four beautiful children, sexting. How do I get past this?”