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How do I forgive a mother who shows no remorse?

Dear Annie: I’m a 47-year-old woman from Texas, and I’m not usually one to complain. I’ve always considered myself resilient, but I’m stuck in a situation where I need advice on two related issues. First, and there’s no easy way to say this, my mother had an affair with my high school boyfriend. I dated him for four years, starting when I was a freshman and he was a senior. During my senior year, my mom ran off with him in the new convertible my dad had just bought her, leaving my dad and me behind. It was horrible and uncomfortable. My parents divorced shortly after (and ...

My mother-in-law’s criticism is hurting my marriage

Dear Annie: My husband, “Mark,” and I have been married for eight years, and we have a good relationship. We’ve always butt heads a little bit about his mother, but recently we have started really clashing over her. She’s always been a little overbearing, but lately, it feels like she’s trying to control our lives. She’ll drop by unannounced, criticize how we’re raising our two kids and even question how we spend our money. Last week she dropped in when our daughter was on the iPad (we set screen time limits for her), and she went on for 45 minutes about how bad screens are ...

Sleep and memory

Just about everyone has heard the phrase ‘sleep on it’. Sleep is important in many ways. What follows is one of those very important ways. Sleep is incredibly important for memory and learning. Think about the immense amount of information that we acquire over a lifetime, or even in a day. Somehow we find a way to remember a large part of that information. When we first take in information much of it is forgotten unless there is some way to move it from short-term memory into long-term memory. The movement of information from short-term memory into long-term memory is called ...

Seeking help for hoarding brother-in-law

Dear Annie: I have a brother-in-law that I need help with but don’t know where to turn. He’s a hoarder. The house he lives in belonged to his parents, but it is now full of junk and he does nothing to keep it clean. He has purchased several items and his garage is overflowing so the new items are left in their boxes outside. He had a good job, but he’s retired and didn’t have a financial adviser to help him invest. He didn’t trust the stock market and now he has less than $500 in savings and is living on approximately $1,800 per month Social Security. He has four vehicles. ...

Check your car lights monthly

Dear Heloise: Please check your automobile’s lights monthly. Ask another person to stand in front of and behind your vehicle(s) to ensure that all the lights and blinkers are functioning properly. A while back, I was about to merge onto the highway, but as I advanced, I noticed a woman in the car to my left scowling at me. I didn’t understand why she gave me such a nasty look until I moved ahead. It was then that I noticed her front turn signal was on. But she did not realize her rear turn signal wasn’t working, and she assumed that I was just being rude by preventing her access ...

The winter of Sam

The Facebook photo caption read something like: “You think we’re having a winter? This is what a real winter looks like! Photo was taken in 1979.” The picture was of a bulldozer trying to clear snow from some railroad tracks. I say “trying” because the situation looked hopeless. Towering drifts on both sides of the tracks made the dozer look like a toy. The snowbanks nearly reached the tops of the trackside utility poles. The winter of ’79 is burned into my memory for a couple of reasons. First is that it’s among the coldest and snowiest winters I’ve ever endured. ...