Dear Margo� from Creators Syndicate

Goodbye to All That for 05/02/2008

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I'm 34 years old, married for 16 years. I was 18 when we married, and he is older. I was in love and thought, like many women, that I would live happily ever after. What a crock! My problem is this: I have completely outgrown this man. He treats me like one of the kids and demands control of everything I do. He can be abusive at times. I really want to leave him because I have no lo ...

Updated: Fri May 02, 2008

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Wedding Bell Blues for 05/03/2008

Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: Longtime reader, first-time writer. Now I have a specific question for you. I am getting married to a wonderful man, and I am tied in a knot about tying the knot. We are both close to our large extended families, but neither of us wants a big, giant, out-of-this-world white wedding. Our choice is just a quiet church wedding with only immediate family. I don't want to exclude anyone, ...

Updated: Sat May 03, 2008

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A Lot of Sex Is in Your Mind for 05/09/2008

Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: My husband of a year, "Michael," is everything a partner should be: generous, caring, supportive, intelligent, easygoing and optimistic. My ex-boyfriend, "George," is none of those things. He's controlling, obsessive-compulsive, inflexible and unhappy. Don't get me wrong, George has his good points; otherwise, we wouldn't have dated for four years. But while Mich ...

Updated: Fri May 09, 2008

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What's Up, Doc? for 05/10/2008

Sat, 10 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: For more than a year, I have been dating an emergency room doctor who works with her ex-fiance. She knew he was not right for her and left him over two years ago. He admitted many infidelities throughout his life and even now is dating another person in the practice. I am not the jealous type, but recently she admitted that a few months ago they spent time together at his house arou ...

Updated: Sat May 10, 2008

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Did You Ever See a Wart Walking? for 05/16/2008

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I've had a very good girlfriend for about four years. She has a boyfriend she's been with for five years. I don't really have anything nice to say about him. When we all hang out, things are OK; it's the rest of the time that is problematic. She started her relationship with him while he was married, and she doesn't trust him as far as she can throw him. (Who would?) She bends over ...

Updated: Fri May 16, 2008

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A Toxic Mother-Daughter Relationship and a Diary for 05/17/2008

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: A friend of mine is struggling with her teenage daughter. Via reading her diary, a routine practice, my friend discovered that the girl is wading into intimate waters with her boyfriend; that this boyfriend slapped her during an argument; that she is probably lying about her whereabouts when away from home; and that she has a boiling hatred for her mother. The means of this discover ...

Updated: Sat May 17, 2008

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When You Think You've Heard Everything for 05/23/2008

Fri, 23 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: My daughter is in a bad marriage. She has a 7-year-old son from a previous relationship whom her current husband has never adopted. They have one toddler son together and a daughter on the way. My daughter is thinking about giving up her first son because he is very active and sometimes hurts the baby. I have tried to tell her to get family counseling, but she brings up her bad memo ...

Updated: Fri May 23, 2008

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When Parents Are Simply Wrong for 05/24/2008

Sat, 24 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I am a 26-year-old woman in a loving relationship with my fiance. There have been a lot of changes in my life recently, what with graduating college and looking forward to dental school in June. And ... we just found out I am pregnant. To further complicate things, I have had problems with my parents my whole life, and now they have given me their "condolences" about the p ...

Updated: Sat May 24, 2008

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When Reading the Tea Leaves Is Essential for 05/30/2008

Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I fell in love with a great guy about three years ago. Problem is, I am bipolar, and I was in the middle of a manic stage. Now I am in a deep depression. I take my meds, but sometimes they just don't work. I am in the process of switching medication, but it will take weeks to kick in. Now that I am depressed, my fiance feels like he "can't handle me" and says that he " ...

Updated: Fri May 30, 2008

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One Size Does Not Fit All for 05/31/2008

Sat, 31 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: My 30th birthday is next week, and I'm already getting the inevitable "biological clock" questions from family and friends. I'm single, have a great job with awesome advancement potential, make good money, and have my retirement investments on the right track. I have nothing against marriage or kids, but no one I've dated has been serious enough for me to consider marriage ...

Updated: Sat May 31, 2008

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Her Mother Could Be on the Mt. Rushmore of Shrews for 06/06/2008

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I grew up the daughter of an abusive alcoholic father and an emotionally absent mother. Though it wasn't easy, my father and I have reconciled and have a great relationship. My mother, on the other hand, is a miserable, bitter woman. When I was 16, I was raped and it resulted in a pregnancy. My mother forced me to carry it to term because she said I was a slut for getting pregnant, ...

Updated: Fri Jun 06, 2008

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Apron Strings and Angst for 06/07/2008

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I am just holding on by a thread. I have been with my fiance for 12 years now. We have been engaged for two years because I can't seem to get him to grow up. His mother has her claws in him in every way possible, and it drives me crazy the way she manipulates him. I love him a great deal, but if he doesn't grow up, and fast, I will walk away from everything we've built together. He ...

Updated: Sat Jun 07, 2008

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When Your Life Is a Soap Opera for 06/13/2008

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I was divorced and unattached for 10 years before meeting and eventually marrying a wonderful woman I thought I knew quite well. We happily dated for 18 months prior to marriage, with no problems in the all-important area of compatibility, emotional or otherwise. She meshed easily with my friends and immediate family, as well as with my 18-year-old son, whom I had raised on my own. ...

Updated: Fri Jun 13, 2008

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Hey, Buddy, Put Your Clothes On for 06/14/2008

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I have been dating a man for a year. He's been divorced for two years. He has a daughter who will be turning 7 in about four months. The concern I have about his relationship with his daughter is that he has to sleep with her because she insists on it. But a bigger concern is that he allows her to see him naked at all times. I have told him I don't think this is appropriate, and he ...

Updated: Sat Jun 14, 2008

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When a Parent Doesn't Handle Money Responsibly for 06/20/2008

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I am 40. My grandfather died when I was a teenager, and his will skipped over my mother and left his modest life savings to me for my education. I was frugal, worked through college and invested the money. I am middle class with normal financial struggles, but with a nest egg I am building for retirement. An investment professional said I am about on course, but should try to save m ...

Updated: Fri Jun 20, 2008

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Not Quite in May-December Territory for 06/21/2008

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I'm the luckiest woman in the world. A truly remarkable man and I are madly in love; the relationship is wonderful and we are very good for each other. The catch? I am 30 and he is 22. Eight years may not seem like a large age gap, but I'm experiencing a bit of culture shock. Early as it may seem, he brought up the possibility of moving in together someday (he stayed at my house for ...

Updated: Sat Jun 21, 2008

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Snake Eyes for 06/27/2008

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: My former wife and I met while we were both working in Las Vegas. We had a fast courtship, married, had a son, and then realized we really could not live together. The divorce was amicable enough. Because she did not like her job but I liked mine, I gave my permission for her to move back home with our son (to the town where her parents live). Now I think I made a mistake and would ...

Updated: Fri Jun 27, 2008

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One Romance -- Two Views for 06/28/2008

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I've been dating a guy I'll call "Greg" for a year and a half. We had a great relationship; I always had a lot of fun with him. However, we often had little quarrels over unimportant things, whereas we were able to solve bigger conflicts more constructively. Despite the ups and downs, I felt we were happy together. About a month ago, Greg told me he wanted to "take a ...

Updated: Sat Jun 28, 2008

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What a Guy! for 07/04/2008

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I have been married for 25 years and have two children, one adult and one teenager. I have never been happy in my marriage. I decided a long time ago that my commitment was to maintaining a secure family life for my children, mostly because I did not have that when I grew up. My husband is distant, insensitive, uncomfortable with emotions, and spends more time alone than he does wit ...

Updated: Fri Jul 04, 2008

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From Here to Eternity for 07/05/2008

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Dear Margo: I despise going to wakes and funerals. I always have. I understand that the person is gone and what remains is the empty body. I don't need to look at it, I don't need to cry over it, I don't need to "say goodbye" to it. It is no longer that person. It was bad enough that I went to my grandmother's funeral when she didn't want one, but when they asked for someone to get up ...

Updated: Sat Jul 05, 2008

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