Dear Annie: I’m a 16-year-old girl who will turn 17 in four months. I just started my junior year of high school; school’s busy, but I’m doing a pretty good job so far. My dilemma is that I’m worried that I’ll never lose my virginity in my 20s because I don’t have ...

Dear Heloise: One way to protect yourself and your family from scammers online or on the phone is to come up with a random “safe word.” We set this up when our kids were young to ensure that anytime the kids were picked up by someone not in the family, that person had to know the safe word, ...

Dear Annie: My boyfriend of five months has a female co-worker, “Leslie,” who he has known and been close to for five years. She is also a single parent of two kids under 10. I have met Leslie several times, and she has always been kind. I’ve never felt threatened by my boyfriend’s ...

Dear Heloise: This summer, I grew my first vegetable garden! It was not only fun; I discovered it saved money. And my vegetables tasted different ... better, in fact, than store-bought ones. I picked my vegetables at the peak of their flavor, and it truly made a difference. My tomatoes have so ...

This is a delightful time of year, this slow slide from simmering summer into amiable autumn. There’s nothing like the cool crispness of a fall morning to put renewed vigor into your step. I think this is an evolutionary adaptation. Chilly nights are Nature’s way of reminding us that the ...

Dear Annie: When my mother was in a coma, dying, my brother closed her safety deposit box. He was co-executor of the estate. Life insurance policies, jewelry and all her personal and important belongings were gone. I was stuck listing, cleaning and selling her home. There are a total of four ...