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When love meets its limits

Dear Annie: I've never written an advice column before, but I honestly don't know where else to turn. My mother is elderly, physically frail and becoming increasingly confused. Earlier this year, she developed pneumonia and was so sick she could barely function. Her longtime boyfriend, who'd ...

Losing weight before a wedding

Dear Heloise: I'd like to respond to Patty W. She wanted to lose weight for her son's wedding. I also wanted to lose weight for my son's wedding a few years ago. The best diet advice I received was free and easy; it was simply "more exercise, less eating" -- or MELE for short. It was easy for ...

Breaking up with the in-laws — again

Dear Annie: I've been married to a wonderful man for 30 years. His family has always made me feel like an outsider -- rude, dismissive, the works. Ten years ago, I finally stepped back from them. We reconnected briefly five years ago when his father passed, mostly with his mother, but this ...

Handling the grief of losing a pet

Dear Heloise: My sweet little dog died two days ago, and I can't stop crying. I know that in time, I'll calm down, but I had him for 21 years. He was like a child to me. I found him at a shelter as a baby -- skinny, scared and abandoned. He needed me, and I needed him. Any hints on how to deal ...

Fair week farmers

ESCANABA — Fair week brings out the farmer in all of us! Corn fields, country roads, and cotton candy are all in vogue right now. Sunflowers stand tall, tomatoes ripen and cucumbers are kings on everyone’s kitchen cupboards. The annual U.P. State Fair creeps up on us like a barn cat on a mouse. Summer slips into the harvest season faster than a flash of lightening on the horizon. Fair week (August 17-23) is full of fantastic smells and sentiments. Food trucks, French fries, elephant ears, and roasting chickens, mixed with the smell of hay and a hint of manure are the hallmarks ...

Tired of watching her choose heartbreak

Dear Annie: My granddaughter has a boyfriend who keeps cheating on her -- three times now, and those are only the times I know about. Each time, she takes him back, swearing he's changed. I'm old enough to know how that story ends. She's smart and kind, and I hate watching her with someone ...