Category: Asking Eric

Dear Traveler: While this isn’t your intention, I fear your input may strike some as bragging. Travel isn’t equally accessible to everyone.

Dear Eric: It is stressing me out and really bothers me, as I know he is doing his best to survive and support his family.

Dear Eric: Sam currently works in a bar with hopes of learning how to be a bartender. His plan for the future is to marry my daughter and make a go of being a carpenter. I find myself not being crazy about the guy.

Dear Eric: My husband and I recently attended a destination wedding 1,500 miles away for the daughter of friends we have known for more than 50 years. We gave a very generous cash gift, despite the fact that we are retired and on a fixed income. We received a perfunctory thank you note a month or so later.

Dear Eric: My son recently announced that he and his wife are divorcing. Shortly after that, I found out my son had an affair with the daughter of my ex-husband’s wife. Technically, the other woman is his step-sister but they only all met as adults, so it’s not cringe-inducing incestuous.

Dear Eric: We have a friend who fancies himself a filmmaker and has made several no-budget films. We have helped him out as performers and crew, and my husband, a professional film editor, spent several years working for no pay cutting and finishing two of them.

Dear Eric: When I am with them, they are loving, full of enthusiasm and say they will keep in touch and maybe even come see me. Then, nothing. I know it is their age; young people are consumed with self and do not think about an old lady, maybe just wanting a call or a text.

Dear Eric: I am in my 70s, and for the last couple of decades I have had occasional coughing fits that are triggered by talking too long and/or too loudly. When these fits happen, I literally can’t talk or stop coughing for several minutes. I’ve been to several doctors but have not been able to get a clear diagnosis or effective treatment.

Dear Eric: Is praying for my friend’s marriage all I can do at this point?

Dear Eric: I got a good job, started making good money ($55,000 to $81,000 per year), and moved out. My parents and two brothers, who live together, keep asking me for help with expenses and the mortgage, which is now owned by a lender. They’re afraid of losing their house. Their rent is $8,500 per […]