DEAR MISS MANNERS: What is my obligation to provide a selection of beverages at a dinner party? I was brought up to think that a glass of water should be provided at each place. My husband thinks that we are supposed to provide a choice of other options such as iced tea or juice.
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: I didn’t take my daughters to church when they were young. Now they’re all living immoral lives and just laugh when I say anything about it. Is God punishing me? — D.L.
DEAR ABBY: I was moved by the letter from “Losing Slowly in Ohio,” who is 50 pounds overweight and walks every day with her friend to lose weight. She said that almost daily people made fun of them. My heart goes out to her.
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: I just retired from the military after 20 years (including tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan), but now that I’m out I can’t find a job. No one seems to appreciate the skills I learned as a soldier. I don’t know why I’m writing, but maybe you could pray that I won’t give up. — F.R.
DEAR ABBY: My son is a tall, strikingly handsome teenager, although somewhat shy. Our problem is that his looks attract the wrong kind of attention from aggressive girls, and it’s getting worse every year.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: Which is proper? To pick up the glass off the table and refill it, or leave it on the table and pour? I have always felt it to be unsanitary for a server who is clearing plates to touch someone’s glass without having washed their hands since clearing other guests’ dishes.
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: Our son has been arrested twice for drunken driving since leaving for college last fall. He says it’s just a phase. Should we be concerned? — E.M.
DEAR ABBY: I have been married for 18 years to a man I have a good relationship with. My problem is, he has always been extremely rude to my parents. They aren’t critical or judgmental of him, and they try hard to be friendly and accommodating, perhaps thinking it might lessen the rudeness he continually shows them.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I’m a 27-year-old female, and I have difficulty meeting men (I rarely get to go out to bars or clubs, as most of my friends have children). On the rare occasion I do meet someone, something always goes wrong, and that gets me down.
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: Years ago my cousin and I had a dispute over some property we inherited, and we never got over it. He died recently, and now I feel terrible because I never tried to patch up our relationship. I know I was partly to blame, but can God still forgive me? — A.T.
DEAR ABBY: My 14-year-old son, “Nils,” recently joined a sport he really enjoys. His stepdad and I are at every practice, helping the coaches and coaching my son along. Nils recently commented to me that he would like it if his father could come and see him practice. I took it upon myself, as I usually do, to call my ex, “John,” and suggest he make an appearance because it would make our son happy.
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: I’m confused about the Holy Spirit. How do you get it? What is the Holy Spirit anyway? A friend of mine is always talking about it, but I guess I don’t really understand what he’s saying. — G.S.
DEAR ABBY: I am a 16-year-old girl from Serbia. I have been in the U.S. for two years and I’m studying English in an ESL (English as a Second Language) class. I read your column and could use some help to solve my problem because I am very upset.
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: I’ve heard a lot lately about the possibility that some day the Earth (or at least human life) will be destroyed by a large meteor or asteroid. This worries me, because apparently it’s happened before and we don’t have any way to prevent it. Is this how the world is going to end, according to the Bible? — J.J.
DEAR ABBY: I am a 47-year-old male, married for 26 years. I am hopelessly in love with my wife and still see her as the most beautiful woman in the world. I have always been self-employed and have sometimes been at the extremes of feast or famine. During the bad times, I often worked 110-plus-hour weeks to save the ship.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: When I was invited to a dinner with an acquaintance, I expected a relatively short dinner with light and pleasant conversation, and accepted enthusiastically.
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: Will we just float around on a cloud when we get to heaven, and be kind of like ghosts or something? — D.M.
DEAR ABBY: My husband and I are contemplating starting a family. When I was younger I wanted children, but over the years my personal experiences have caused trepidation. Because of divorce and the custody battles of my older siblings, I know the amount of blood, sweat and tears that go into children.
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: I want to believe in God and I’m trying to, but every time I think I’m about to get there I become filled with doubts and I’m right back where I started. How can I overcome my doubts? — K.G.
DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have been married 17 years. For the most part, our marriage has been great, and I love her very much. Lately, though, I have felt that our sexual and emotional intimacy has been lacking. I spoke to her about it recently and tried to explain how I feel. She has responded, and things are improving.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am a 43-year-old woman who has been dating a 61-year-old man for about 18 months. At a gathering of his family, his 96-year-old mother introduced me to the attendees, all of whom I was meeting for the first time, as her son’s “friend.”
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: My parents were active in church and all that, but even as a child I knew it didn’t make any difference in the way they lived. Shouldn’t believing in God make someone a better person? I have lots of friends who aren’t religious but they’re still good people. Why should I bother to believe, if it doesn’t make any difference? — H.N.
DEAR ABBY: I was raised that a person’s birthday is his or her day to do whatever he or she wants, but my wishes are being ignored by a close friend I’ll call Wade. For the last 10 years I have ignored my birthday and tried to avoid all celebrations. I’ll take a vacation alone and have a great time. My family understands how I feel and gives me no grief.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: We hosted a dinner for a female friend of ours, and after dessert we retired to the family room to watch a one-hour episode of a top-rated program. Our guest wasn’t interested in the show and proceeded to take out her phone and check email, or something.
DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: Our children complain because we won’t let them watch some of the TV shows their friends watch. But we just can’t see why we should expose them to all the bad language and sex and violence on TV now. Are we just old-fashioned? — R.Y.
