Opinions

DEAR ABBY: I am in my late 30s. I live halfway across the country from my parents and don’t have the best relationship with them. I also have a brother four years younger from whom I have been estranged for 20 years. He lives in the same city as my parents.

DEAR ABBY: When my daughter entered her teens, she and her friends began borrowing each other’s clothes. I didn’t approve, and I warned my daughter that if anything became lost or damaged, I would not be responsible, nor would I replace the item. She said she understood and continued the practice.

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are in our early 60s. For the last five years, we have been having some great fun. We dress up, roleplay and invite friends to join us from time to time. It has been wonderful and has kept us young. Then one of our adult children had to move back home. He never goes out.

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, “Roy,” is a quiet person. His ex-girlfriend put him and his family through something so terrible that he shuts down and pulls away from me a lot. He won’t introduce me to his mother, although I have met his son. We’ve been together almost 18 months.

DEAR ABBY: My parents have always been wonderful and supportive. As they grow older, it’s hard to see them deal with the aches and pains that come with age -- especially my mother, who has rheumatoid arthritis.

Ten-year-old Billy and his dad were going to eat at Billy’s favorite buffet-style restaurant. It was the boy’s birthday, and Dad had indulgently told him that he could have anything he wanted, as much as he wanted. Big mistake.

I remember from English Literature, especially these lines by William Wordsworth: The world is too much with us,; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers, Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!...

DEAR ABBY: I have been married 44 years and have always slept in the same bed with my wife. Last week, I caught a virus, and we decided that I would sleep in the spare bedroom until it was gone. I have now discovered I sleep better by myself, and I enjoy the freedom of the bed.

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, “Wade,” and I were expecting our first child and couldn’t wait to tell the news to our family and friends. But my boyfriend can’t keep a secret, and before we told our parents, he told his best friend and his wife.

MUSKOGEE-Three of six Indian defendants on trial here for alleged extortion and acts of violence against the Santa Fe Railroad rested their cases just before noon today.