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Trump chaos changing our country

I remember as a kid hoping that between chores and supper, I could watch Walter Cronkite give the news on our black and white television. Yeah, I was a geek. I’ve been a news junkie ever since. I get that not everyone is so obsessed. If you have kids at home, maybe working two jobs, you might not follow the news like I do. It would be easy to not know we are in one of the most unprecedented times in our history. And the lives of those kids you’re cleaning up after will be altered because of this. First off, whenever I mention Donald Trump, I get texts from a couple friends ...

Sobriety and romance can work with the proper steps

Romantic relationships are complex and transformative. They offer profound joy but can pose significant challenges. For individuals in recovery from substance use, dating, and relationships can carry an added layer of complexity as sobriety and personal growth intersect with the emotional demands of intimacy. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for anyone navigating the delicate interplay between love and recovery. Fortunately, there are practical resources and tools to help navigate love and romance during recovery and support in the state for anyone struggling or needing someone ...

Sister’s wedding is stealing our bonding time

Dear Annie: My sister, “Laura,” and I have always been close, but ever since she got engaged, there’s been a bit of a distance. She’s constantly busy with wedding planning, and when we do talk, all she wants to discuss is flowers, seating charts or her bachelorette party. I’m happy for her, but at a certain point it feels like she has forgotten that I have problems and things to discuss, too. The world doesn’t revolve around her wedding! The final straw came last week when I asked if we were still on to go to the farmer’s market like we had planned. Laura laughed and said, ...

Factors contributing to successful marriage

Over the years I have seen both good and bad marriages. What follows is a psychologist’s opinion as to a few of the factors that contribute to a successful, mutually satisfying, healthy marriage. There certainly are more factors that could be listed here, but what follows are a few that have clearly stood out in my work with couples. This is not an exhaustive list. First, they have to be friends, best friends. They would prefer to do things with the other person more than just about anyone else. It is the pleasure of their company. What do friends and successful couples do? They do ...

Feeling overlooked at stepson’s wedding

Dear Annie: I recently attended my stepson’s wedding. My husband and his ex-wife were announced as mother and father of the groom as they entered the wedding reception together. His ex thought nothing of taking my husband’s arm as they entered. Meanwhile, I’m sitting at our table by myself as this is happening. My husband and I have been married for 15 years, so I had thought we would enter the wedding reception and be introduced as the father of the groom and his wife. What is the correct protocol? I don’t want to cause unnecessary drama, but I can’t help but feel ...

Water softener blues

One of the first things my wife and I did when we moved into our farmhouse more than four decades ago was dig a well. Our house, which was built by my grandparents in the early 1960s, drew its water from a cistern. This was good and bad. It was good because the cistern was supplied by naturally soft rainwater from the house’s roof; it was bad because no rain meant no rainwater. And birds, who aren’t known for their fastidious bathroom habits, often roosted on the roof. We didn’t personally dig our well, of course. That would have involved approximately as much manual labor as ...