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My husband died five years ago, and for the last two years I have been in a long-distance relationship with a man I met on a casino trip (he was the cook). I’m Canadian and he’s an American, and, since he doesn’t have a passport, I travel once a month to see him. I have given him money when he lost his job, bought him a trailer to live in when he got evicted, and bought him a concession trailer so he could be his own boss. In all, I helped him to the tune of $70,000. During the course of our two-year relationship, I found out he had a girl who…

For the past four years I have been an exemplary girlfriend. I have never cheated, I was very understanding and respectful, and my only sin was to be a little bit jealous. My boyfriend parties a lot, he travels a lot for work, and he is a heavy drinker. He works with a lot of hot, young people who usually drink a lot as well. I always had my doubts in regards to whether he was cheating or not, though he always said he would never cheat on me because he would never want to lose me. Regardless of his loyalty claims, I always remained skeptical. I read a lot about human…

I’ve known my current boyfriend for over a year now. We were on and off again every couple months due to our respective life circumstances and choices. With those situations recently resolved, we decided to move in together. He had recently gotten an apartment, and he pushed me to leave my family in a bordering state and move 250 miles away to be with him. He promised me this fairytale in which we would be so in love, rent would not be an issue (he was currently “behind payments” only because of a massive car payment), and if I got just a part-time job that would be okay as I would only…

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 that being as clear and frank as possible is simply the best way to go.

“I met my ex-wife when I was 14 (I am now 40) and we became a couple that year. Ten years later, our relationship stalled…”

I am in my early thirties, married, and a new mother of one. A couple years ago, a few close friends and I started playing tennis one evening a week. We all loved it and it gave us a chance to catch up between busy schedules, work, etc. When I found out I was pregnant, I chose to quit tennis and my friends all kind of stopped as well. Recently, I asked if they wanted to pick up where we left off and they did. My friend Melissa got word of this, which has been causing me stress. She and I grew up together and were best friends in high school. We…

My mother-in-law is your stereotypical difficult MIL: – She behaves badly when things are not about her or do not go her way. She had a wedding tantrum when she felt she was not being treated specially enough as mother of the groom. In every photo of her she is scowling. Whenever she talks about the wedding week, she refers to her side trip to the Grand Canyon as the highlight of her trip. – She is a manipulative crier and will start crying when she feels she is being “attacked” (i.e. anyone trying to speak to her about her behavior). – She is incredibly self-absorbed and controlling. – One day before…

My ex dumped me about three months ago. Within a month, I started seeing another girl who understood and respected my situation, and we have taken things slowly. (I’m 29 and she is 27, fyi.) All my friends and family thought it was way too fast to find someone else, but I have a connection with her. We are now officially together and I’m extremely happy. We both live at our respective parents’ houses, and while her parents have been nothing but welcoming, my parents don’t want to involve themselves — or see anyone else in my family involved — with my current girlfriend. I asked if she could come to our…