Blended Family 두 가정을 합치기

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been struggling with marital problems ever since he proposed. Before that, we got along well, but things took a turn for the worse after the engagement. His ex-wife is constantly causing drama, and whenever I try to stand up for myself, the situation gets twisted, and I'm the one blamed. My husband usually ends up upset with me instead of addressing the real issue. The ex has crossed major boundaries. For example, she joined the same exercise classes I attended

Struggling with Disrespectful Patients 무례한 환자들 때문에 힘들어요

Dear Annie: Last week, I was caring for a patient named "Mr. Thompson," who had come in with severe back pain. After completing my initial assessment, his daughter, "Sally," arrived and immediately demanded that I give her father "the strongest pain meds you've got." I explained that we had protocols to follow and that the doctor would need to approve any narcotics. She became furious, yelling, "What's wrong with you? Can't you see he's suffering? Just give him something!" I calmly assured her t

Sister's Wedding Steals Bonding Time 결혼준비에 빼앗기는 함께 할 시간

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 sti

Overlooked at Stepson's Wedding 의붓아들의 결혼식에서 받은 홀대

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 proto

No rush 서두르지 마세요

Dear Annie: I've struggled with romance for most of my life. I'm 27 and find myself repeatedly dealing with unrequited crushes. It's embarrassing because I feel like I shouldn't be struggling with something so trivial at my age. Crushes seem more fitting for kids, not for an adult woman with a good job and her life seemingly together. Right now, I have strong feelings for a co-worker, which isn't new for me but feels more intense this time. I'm practically intoxicated by these emotions, and it's

Playing It Safe or Living the Dream 안전한 길로 갈지 아니면 꿈을 좇을지

Dear Annie: My name is Jess, and I've always prided myself on being the "steady one." I have a good job as a marketing manager, a wonderful husband named "Fred," and a life that feels stable and predictable. On paper, everything looks perfect. But lately, I can't shake this persistent, nagging feeling that something is missing. Growing up, my parents struggled financially, so I learned early on to choose security above all else. I picked a practical career over pursuing my dream of becoming a tr

Living Without My Wife 아내가 없는 삶

Dear Annie: My wife of 44 years passed away after a nine-day bout with cancer. We started dating at 16, went to college together, married at 20 and graduated at 21, when we started our life together for real. "Sally" passed away two months after her 65th birthday. I will turn 65 in a month. I was to retire in three months, while Sally was already retired. Our house is paid for and sits by a beautiful creek in small-town Georgia, and moving has been suggested. I like it here. All our plans for tr

Too Late to Heal a Marriage? 결혼생활을 고치기에 너무 늦었나요?

Dear Annie: My husband has always seemed "old for his age." For years, I managed the household while he worked full-time, but when he retired, I expected him to pitch in more with chores. That expectation has become our biggest source of conflict. He struggles to keep up with my energy, and I feel like he holds me back. I've grown bitter. I find myself craving space and alone time; sometimes I even send him to the store just to have a few moments to myself. We never really fought, but that was b

Mother-in-law destroying peace 평온함을 깨뜨리는 시어머니

Dear Annie: My mother-in-law is currently living with my husband and me. She insisted she needed to move in with us, as she was divorcing her husband who received a much larger retirement than her and she was convinced she couldn't live on her own. She owned her house outright but refused to stay in it because she felt the upkeep of the land would be too much. My husband was worried that if we said no, we would lose that relationship, and we believed that she could be able to compromise and live

Shunned father 배척당하는 아버지

Dear Annie: I broke up with the mother of my children two years ago. We have had a very rocky past. I treated her badly for the first couple of years, and we separated for two years after our first child was born. We got back together 18 months later. We were together for seven years on our second stint, and we had another child. We eventually didn't work out when my job took me away and she refused to leave her mother. Now I am treated like a criminal. I don't get to see them and am only allowe

Drawing line with ex 전남자친구에게 선긋기

Dear Annie: My wife of 19 years still to this day keeps in contact with her ex-boyfriend from high school. They dated all through high school, and after they broke up, he ran her through the mud by spreading rumors about her to all her friends. Fast-forward many years, when we had just gotten married, and by some strange accident, they reconnected. I told her I did not like her communicating with him because he doesn't respect me or our marriage. He used to call her at 2 or 3 a.m. to talk to her

After betrayal 배신당한 후

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for 14 years. He is 9 years younger than I am, and when we got married, we each brought three children into our blended family. For the past two years, I was the primary caregiver for my mother after she had a stroke. Even before that, I spent a significant amount of my time caring for my elderly parents. My husband has always had his own hobbies and keeps busy with work. He had always said he understood and supported me in devoting so much time to

Too young to hurt? 아프기엔 너무 젊다고요?

Dear Annie: I have struggled with several chronic health issues for over a decade, which often leave me fatigued, in pain or struggling with my memory. Yet because of my age (early 20s), I often get laughed off or dismissed if I bring these up. It doesn't come from my family, friends or close co-workers, thankfully. They are all compassionate people who know about my health problems to at least some extent, and they understand that if I say I'm having a rough day, it's not me complaining. I'm si

When love and marriage don't align 연애와 결혼이 일치하지 않을때

Dear Annie: I've been dating a wonderful man for three years. He's everything I could want in a partner, and I'm very happy with him. He came out of a long-term marriage that ended in divorce, while I lost my spouse to cancer shortly before we met. For the first year, we kept things casual, but we've been serious about a long-term relationship for the past two years. Here's the issue: He says he eventually wants to get married, but his actions don't align with that. After three years together, I

Family's Lifelong Secret 가족이 평생 지켜온 비밀

Dear Annie: I've been best friends for over 50 years now with a girl I was neighbors with growing up. When I was about 12, I remember coming home from her house upset over the way her dad had treated her. He was always very cold and abrupt, and he treated her as less than he did her older sister. I confided in my parents about this, and they sort of brushed it off. My parents, thinking I had left the room and was out of earshot, started discussing this and I overheard my dad say that it was prob