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In a feature I call “Your Turn,” in which you, the readers, get to answer the question, I’m presenting the following letter without commentary from me: I am 45 years old and my boyfriend is almost 40. I just gave him up because after three years he still cannot introduce me to his family. His family does not want to meet me and has never even seen me because I am divorced and a bit older with two children. He has been coming to see me every weekend for three years as he is an hour away. So he has been great that way. Unfortunately, I have come to a crossroads where…

I have been dating my boyfriend since I was 18 (I am now 23). We only had a brief period in college where we broke up, but I pretty much feel I’ve been married since the beginning of college. After our break up, I always questioned getting back together with him since I enjoyed the single life so much. I fell back in love with him, but then I graduated two years ago, got a job out of state, and waited for him to graduate to come to me. Well, he actually got a job in our hometown, and I quit my job a few months ago and moved back. I had…

I dated a guy from work for two months. We went to restaurants and shows, I met his friends — the whole deal. To say that the sex was amazing is an understatement. He was incredibly affectionate and we were very intimate right from the start. We were basically in a relationship (we were exclusive). He recently told me that he cannot see this becoming more serious and that he knew right from the start that this was nothing more than a “rebound” (I had just gotten out of a long-term relationship). He still wanted us to date and have sex though. I said that I couldn’t do that if he didn’t…

My boyfriend and I are in our late twenties, have been together close to two years and are very much in love. We often talk about what our future will look like. He has consistently expressed his deep desire to have a child and be a stay-at-home dad, and I am content to accept the role of mom and breadwinner. You’ve written about how, when choosing Drew as your life partner, you knew he would be a great dad. My question is: How did you know? We don’t have any friends with babies, so I’ve never had the opportunity to see my boyfriend in action with them. He is kind, nurturing, patient…

I am 22 and graduated from college last May. I met “Sam” my first week of college, and we’ve been good friends ever since. We were roommates our last two years of college, with others, including his girlfriend at the time. They broke up in the middle of senior year, after I had already come to the slow but painful realization that I had serious feelings for him, a person so painfully kind, thoughtful, and talented. He is the first person I’ve ever wanted to compromise for, the first person I’ve really ached for. Shortly before graduation, a mutual friend revealed my emotions to Sam in a public and humiliating manner. We…

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It’s time again for Shortcuts. For every question, I’ll give my advice in three sentences or less, 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. Today we discuss how to know when you’re just a booty call, dealing with his next door ex, and …well, just keep reading.

I am a 19-year-old college student with a problem: My overbearing parents want to buy me a house. As silly as it sounds, this is absolutely stressing me out. I moved 1,000 miles away from home to go to a very affordable university and still have relatives nearby (this was not possible back in over-priced California). My parents laid it out straight for me in the beginning and told me they DIDN’T think they should have to pay for my college, since my mother paid for hers all herself and my father had no debt because he want to a military academy. Lo and behold, they refused to let me take out…

Three months ago, my sister (25) met a guy (30) through a blind date and apparently hit it off. I met him and didn’t like him. He wasn’t an interesting person. He seemed entirely too comfortable in my sisters’ apartment where I was temporarily staying. He put his bare feet up on the coffee table, which I found gross and disrespectful. And he really didn’t speak to me. He was so into my sister, but he didn’t ask me anything about myself, which I thought was disrespectful. A few days later they were “in love.” I later found out (through our other sister) that soon after they met, he got a biggish…

It’s time again for Shortcuts. For every question, I’ll give my advice in three sentences or less, 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. Today we discuss sleeping with dogs and how not to cry at work.