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I have been with my partner for nearly nine years. We have travelled together and have lived abroad. When we met, he was unemployed and living at home and I was working full-time, which was fine as he was on benefits and living rent-free. When we arrived at our new country, I was employed within two weeks and working 75-hour weeks paying rent and giving him money to drink with his new friends as he kept saying he was out of money, but whenever I didn’t have any to give, all of a sudden he’d have his own. Within a month and a half, he landed a very well-paying job, and since…

I have a vacation to Florida planned with my 6-year-old coming up that would involve a short, direct, round-trip flight. I think it’s probably ok to go, with precautions, but my spouse would rather we postpone (he isn’t going). We have elderly relatives in our house, so there is an issue if this results in COVID-19/coronavirus exposure. My kid is REALLY looking forward to the trip, and if we don’t go now, the trip will have to be next year (it seems like the projections are the virus is spreading, so it’s going to take a while to renormalize). My husband and I have very different comfort levels with travel in general…

My two older half-sisters did nothing when my son’s fiancée recently committed suicide and left him with a 6-month old baby, rent obligations, a car with blown head gasket and no job since he had left his job a month before because his fiancée was suffering from postpartum depression. I have attended every family holiday, birthday, and shower, bringing gifts for their eight grandchildren. My son has not attended any family events for years because he said he felt like an outsider, but with the birth of his first child he had wanted to reunite and try again. My coworkers, his fiancée’s coworkers, my distant second cousin, and two of his cousins…

I’m 26 and have been with my 34-year-old boyfriend for almost two years now. We have been living together for almost a year. Lately, I have been struggling with us. There’s nothing wrong with him; he hasn’t cheated on me or done me wrong in any other way. He’s really sweet, but I do not believe I see a future with him. We are coming to the end of our lease and have talked a little about re-signing it, but if I do re-sign, I am here for another year unsure about my feelings. If I stay, I could start to love him again—-maybe by putting more effort into the relationship. But…

New readers, welcome to Dear Wendy, a relationship advice blog. Read some of the most popular Dear Wendy posts here. If you don’t find the info you need in this column, please visit the Dear Wendy archives or the forums (you can even start your own thread), do a search in the search bar, or submit a question for advice at wendy(AT)dearwendy.com. My boyfriend (28) and I (29) have been together for about 16 months, and we had an argument about a month ago. I had noticed that he seems to “check out” other women, especially women/girls with blond hair. I told him that I noticed he kept looking at the same…

My ex-wife recently caught our 14-year-old son smoking a joint in the basement of their home. A few months earlier his mom caught him smoking up in the garage. My son told me about it, not the ex. I asked him where he got the weed and he said from his sister’s room where she always has a stash. Her mom, against my approval, let her smoke around the house since she was 14 becouse, she said: “It would be safer than anywhere else and I can protect her.” This time she sent me the nastiest text blaming me for every bit of why our son smokes weed and saying that she…

“Silvia” and I first met when I was 11 and she was 19. She was my best friend’s older sister. I was a precociously bright child, and she was always kind to me, never condescending. I came from a broken home and her family sort of adopted me unofficially. By the time I was 15, I realized what an incredible woman she was. I fell madly romantically in love on top of the familial sort of bond we had. Of course, there could be no reciprocation so I kept it to myself. When I was 23, her marriage failed. I should have tried to date her then, but I just thought she…

My husband and I have been together for ten years but only married for one. We have a baby at home and another one on the way. We have a great life and are very happy, with one exception: he has sleep apnea and his snoring keeps me awake when he refuses to wear his sleep apnea machine. Whenever he goes out and has a few drinks, he NEVER wants to put his mask on. It seems like such a silly problem, but it escalates into an unimaginable fight almost every time. If he does not wear the mask, not only is it dangerous for his health, but also he snores like…