DR. WALLACE: Please print my letter, because I'm sure it will save some fellow teens a lot of heartache and depression over a lost love.

I was going out with a great guy for nearly a year and I really thought he was a "keeper." I was happy and liked him a lot when one day he told me he was going to start dating another girl. I was completely crushed and I cried myself to sleep every night for over a month. I was so upset that I told my best friend that I felt like just ending my life because I'd never love another guy. My friend was completely surprised and very worried about me, and she talked me into going out with her cousin. I didn't want to go at first, but my friend suggested that we double date and have a good time, so I finally agreed.

This turned out to be the luckiest and most wonderful evening of my life. Thanks to this wonderful guy and my trust in God, my life is now beautiful and my prayers were answered. He is a complete gentleman and a marvelous human being, and I dearly love him. I laugh when I think (which is very rare) of my old boyfriend and what a jerk he really was.

Teens, when you are depressed and lonely about a breakup, please remember my letter. No matter how blue you feel, there is someone out there who will make you forget about your misery. Start looking today! — Nameless, Oklahoma City, Okla.

NAMELESS: Thanks so much for sharing your story with our readers. Your advice to our teens is excellent! No one says it better than a teen who has gone through a difficult time and become a better person for the unhappy experience.

GRANDMOTHER IS OFF BASE

DR. WALLACE: I'm 12 years old and my parents are both attorneys. Sometimes they tell me about interesting cases and I think I might also enjoy being an attorney. I get good grades in school and my parents are proud of me.

I'm an only child, but I don't know the reason, and I never asked. I've heard my dad telling the people who ask that I am a perfect child and he knew that he couldn't improve with additional children. This really makes me feel good.

My grandmother (my mother's mom) comes from a large family of six children and she keeps telling my parents and me that being an only child will cause me to be a maladjusted teenager. I think I'm well adjusted and have lots of friends, and I'm on the honor roll at school. I hope you can tell me that my grandmother is wrong. — Sophia, Orlando, Fla.

SOPHIA: Your grandmother is off base. In fact, only children have many advantages over their peers with siblings. They actually usually have higher IQs, and test higher in creativity, abstract reasoning, mechanical reasoning, mathematics, reading comprehension and English skills, according to an extensive study conducted by the American Institute for Research.

There are many myths about only children and most of them are false. Your grandmother should know better than to perpetuate them at your expense.

STOP SMOKING FIRST

DR. WALLACE: I'm an 18-year-old woman who happens to be a bit overweight and I also have a smoking habit. I really want to lose about 15 pounds and I also want to stop smoking. My problem is that if I stop smoking first, I will put on even more weight, but if I diet first, I don't know if I will ever stop for fear that I will gain weight if I stop. I know I can't diet and stop smoking at the same time. Help! — Olivia, Florence, Ala.

OLIVIA: The typical weight gain of a withdrawing smoker totals about seven pounds. It has been calculated that the physical effects of smoking are akin to carrying an extra 100 pounds. I would suggest that you quit smoking first, and when you have that problem solved, go after those extra pounds. Starting a daily walking program would also be beneficial. A short walk after dinner and increasing the distance slightly each week will keep those unwanted extra pounds to a minimum.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.