Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: I am planning to propose to my girlfriend in a few weeks. She knows it’s coming, we’ve discussed it, no real surprises. I think a ring would be…

Adapted from online discussions. Dear Carolyn: How do I gently tell my spouse and daughter I do not enjoy family trips with them when hotels and other expensive activities may be involved? I want to…

Dear Carolyn: My brother announced to the family three weeks before Thanksgiving that he and his wife of 30 years were getting a divorce. We were all stunned, confused, mad. I was mad about the…

Dear Carolyn: Forty years ago, a very close friend and I agreed to keep something we did in our 20s a secret for life. We did not want to hurt anyone else. I never said…

Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: Can you suggest a way to try to save a friendship that I care about, even though my friend basically dumped me via text message? I hate text…

Hi, Carolyn: From what I can tell, all the following are the wrong reasons to have kids: 1. To keep a relationship together. (It could make it worse.) 2. To have someone to take care…

Dear Carolyn: I consider myself a good feminist, so I normally avoid talking in terms of gender roles, yet here I am. Is it the role of a wife and mother to help bridge a…

Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: My husband got really into running last year as part of a treatment plan for his depression. I fully supported this. But now he spends 15 hours a…

Adapted from an online discussion. Hi, Carolyn: My mom recently remarried after divorcing my dad two years ago. I’m 16 and an only child, and I live with my mom and new stepfather. He’s older,…

Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: My son is a college graduate with a job as a bartender. I get embarrassed telling people what he does when they ask. Help me. — Embarrassed Embarrassed:…