Dear Blake, A relative is getting married, and the RSVP date has passed. It was announced many months ago and was to be a big, […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, Am I obligated to give people a free ride just because I am going to the same place or in the same direction? […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I am writing this in the hope that the man of my dreams reads it. I don’t know how to approach him. He’s […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, During my late teens and most of my 20s, I kept journals that filled two full spiral-bound notebooks. I kept them my entire […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I have a close friend who is like a brother to me. He has no family, and we are his only friends who […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, My husband and I have been married 46 years. During the last five, he has procrastinated about doing our income taxes to the […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I recently celebrated my sixth anniversary of sobriety. I keep having the same issue pop up time and time again, and I’m not […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I have a friend I’ve known for 30 years. We have shared many good times together and feel like family. The problem is, […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I have a close relationship with my grandchildren and their parents. My 12-year-old grandson eats nothing except fast food and refuses everything else. […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I host holiday meals for my out-of-town family. During the last one, my cousin’s 5-year-old son ran up and down the upstairs hallway […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Phillip, I live in Chicago, where our spring and summer months are slowly contracting into a three-month period. I know you can’t do anything […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, Our only son, who is 32, and his wife are expecting their first child. They have been married two and a half years […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, After attending a water aerobics class for three months, I have had it with the talkers in the pool. I’m not the only […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, My husband, “Buddy,” did some HVAC work for some friends of ours. We live in California, where it can get super warm. My […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I went out to eat at a fancy Manhattan restaurant with some of my siblings. One of them over-ordered and ran up a […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I’m irritated by my neighbors, and I don’t know quite how to approach it. I live in a densely populated, but quiet, neighborhood. […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, My husband and I have been together for three years. In that time, he has refused to step up. He shows up late […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I am uncomfortable about being touched. I have been this way all my life. As a child, my parents forced me to hug […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I work nine hours a day in a mental health clinic talking to the clients and doing billing and collections among many other […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I have been with my abusive husband for almost 30 years. I made several attempts to leave him, which resulted in him stalking […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I am a 40-plus-year-old single male. I recently started hanging out with one of my friend “Tom’s” ex-girlfriends. It is now turning into […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I am the father of four, two boys and two girls, ranging in age from late teens to mid-20s. I was extremely close […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, My sister-in-law and her husband become very defensive when my wife or I try to suggest things we believe would benefit them. Not […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I am a retired automotive worker. My employer allows me to share my company discount with close relatives. One of them has taken […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, How can I help my financially drowning, 57-year-old daughter without being pulled under myself? I live comfortably now, but that could change in […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, My husband and I have been married for 18 years, so I know his family well. His mother and I have a cordial, […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, My daughter is married with two kids. They live a few hours away. I love seeing them, but I have just one issue. […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, My parents announced during their recent visit that they are planning to move here. Because of a laundry list of complaints, including them […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I recently found out that my 20-year high school reunion took place and I wasn’t invited. I’m still occasionally in touch with several […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, A woman where I work refuses to acknowledge me. Every day for the past nine months, she walks by my desk and ignores […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I have a serious problem I have lived with for practically my whole life. I’m sloppy. I am incapable of keeping my surroundings […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I went to visit a man I am dating and there was no visitor parking available. He told me to park in any […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, What’s the best way to tell your siblings you think it’s time to stop exchanging Christmas gifts? We’re all in our 60s, and, […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, My boss, who recently separated from her husband and is getting divorced, has moved within walking distance of work. The problem is, she […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, People are always collaring me, cornering me and then talking my ear off. They drone on and on for long periods of time. […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, How do you tell your adult children it’s time for them to start planning family events? Neither of my 30-something kids has planned […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I’m a realtor and managing broker helping my fiancé’s son, “Mark,” buy a new home. We’re set to close next month. Tonight, my […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I’m in a book club I started with friends 13 years ago. The 12 of us have grown close and value, appreciate and […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, Why is it, as a man who is capable of going to the symphony as well as watching “The Bachelor,” spending a day […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I’m 24 and not where I want to be in life. I have goals and dreams I would like to accomplish. However, my […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I heard my old high school boyfriend was arrested. It made the news. I hadn’t seen or heard from him in more than […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, A month ago, when I invited a co-worker to a concert happening next month, he was so excited to go. But we had […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, My friend dresses like a slob. We were on a cruise and went to dine in one of the upscale restaurants on the […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, Is there any way to end the “holiday newsletter”? Every Christmas, I get one from a particular family member, which invariably includes a […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, I live with my best friend and his younger son. We get along well, but my friend’s older son is a meth and […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, When my husband and I married a year ago, I dropped my health insurance plan and joined his family plan, since he also […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, One of my family members is a loner. I’m the closest relative to them. They invite my children and me over for holiday […]
Blake’s Advice Column
Dear Blake, Some of my friends think I’m weird, but I really, really love having my kids home from school. Summers and school breaks are […]