How to Part with a Friend Who Is More Pain Than Pleasure

by Cathi Hanauer | Jun 13, 2022

Dear Answer Queen:   I’ve been good friends with a woman I’ll call Dollface (because why not?) for a couple of decades. When we met, in our early mid-thirties, I was a single, broke, wannabe novelist in New York, living in a scummy flat and working part-time as a...

Cut Out of the Will? What to Do About Unequal Inheritance

by Cathi Hanauer | Mar 11, 2022

Dear Answer Queen: My parents have asked me what I think about cutting one of my siblings out of their will. I don’t even want to get involved with this issue, let alone figure out the answer for them. Help. Signed, Calgon, Take Me Away Dear Calgon: You haven’t given...

Our Answer Queen Responds: “Help! I Don’t Want to Have Sex with My Husband”

by Cathi Hanauer | Feb 17, 2022

Dear Answer Queen: I’ve been married for 40 years. I love my husband, but when it comes to sex, he has been, and still is, a 14-year-old boy. At first I was a willing participant, but after years of his moping, cajoling, screaming, and disrespect, I lost interest. We...

Ouch! What to Do When Grown Kids Don’t Come Home to Visit

by | Nov 30, 2021

Dearest Answer Queen: Recently, my freshman son had a three-day weekend from college that happened to fall over my birthday. His college is four hours from home, but there’s a bus from his school right to our town.  I told him the best gift he could give me would be...

Empty Nest, Empty Marriage? How to Reconnect After All These Years

by Cathi Hanauer | Sep 21, 2021

Dear Answer Queen: My twin daughters head off to college this fall, and my husband, J, who is eight years older than I am, is about to retire. Before we had the girls, J and I traveled a lot and loved hiking and all things outdoors. Now he doesn’t want to travel...