FEATURES
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2015
Stepdad gives away the farm
Tomorrow’s horoscope
Dear Annie: I am married to one
of four siblings who dutifully took care
of their aged parents until their mother
died a few years ago. Daddy, in his mid-
80s, met a bevy of women at his new
upscale care facility and proposed mar-
riage to one of them within two weeks.
She turned him down, but a mutual
friend accepted and she secretly mar-
ried Daddy shortly thereafter.
The woman has two children, both
in professional jobs, one of whom is an
-
er, laughed a bit and everyone got along
well. But 18 months later, Daddy died
and we discovered that he had drafted
a document leaving his estate, worth al-
most a million dollars, to her.
Now the stepmother will not answer
any of our calls and hangs up if we
somehow manage to get through. We
certainly feel slighted, but this woman
is our legal stepmother and we would,
with civility, like to make our case to
her to use some of that money to help
with our children’s college tuitions.
How do we address her? — Bombed in
Birmingham
Dear Bombed: Oh, my. We’re
certain our readers will come up with
many names you can call her, none of
which are printable. Your 80-something
father-in-law signed over his estate to a
woman he barely knew, they married in
secret, and it lasted a short time. This
ARIES (March 21-April 19). The way you
become a powerful force in the world is very
simple: Be yourself. Honor your joy. Get to
know what makes you happy and keep do-
ing that.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You’re a
leader, and you like to follow, too — it’s how
you learned effective leadership in the first
place. This conundrum will show up in your
life, and there will be moments when you’re
torn about whether to lead or fall in line.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Your social
graces will be in top form today, and it’s a
good thing — this is what the world needs.
You’ll make it easy for people to get to know
who you are and what you’re about, and
you’ll share yourself in many ways.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). In order to
speak well on a topic, you have to first un-
derstand it thoroughly. That’s why you’ll do
so much research and listening today. You’d
rather not have to correct yourself later.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Your dietary
needs are changing with the physical de-
mands of your life. With each meal you eat,
ask yourself how you could make it better
for yourself. Probably the answer is in fresh
vegetables.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). There are
life stressors that you can’t do anything but
laugh about. The key is to determine quickly
which are the ones that you can’t do any-
thing about and consciously decide not to
take them on.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). If you think your
family is complicated and weird, just ask the
person next to you to tell you a story about his
family. There isn’t a person on the planet who
doesn’t have weirdness in the family.
Annie’s
Mailbox
Creators
Syndicate Inc.
Kathy Mitchell
and
Marcy Sugar
a lawyer. Now.
Dear Annie: I had been living with
“Rafe” for 10 years until we split up
several months ago. Recently, he called
to say that his brother had died. I want-
ed to attend the funeral, but Rafe said he
didn’t want me to be there because we
weren’t together anymore.
This made me upset and it hurt. Then
he said his family probably wouldn’t
want me there, either. Since I knew his
brother, I feel I should have shown up
and paid respects. What difference does
it make if we’re together or not? I don’t
know how I’m supposed to feel now. I
am sensitive and Rafe doesn’t care that
he hurts my feelings. — Ex-Girlfriend
Dear Ex: This isn’t about you. It is
about Rafe and his family. If they were
uncomfortable having you at the funer-
al, it was right for you to stay away. It
is natural that you wanted to pay your
would be very gracious of you to send a
condolence card to Rafe and his family,
expressing your sadness over their loss,
and perhaps sharing a fond memory of
Rafe’s brother.
Dear Annie: I’d like to weigh in
on servers calling people “Hon” or
“Sweetheart.”
I’m a widower in my late 60s. I
agree almost entirely with those who
dislike being called “Sweetie,” by serv-
ers. But the fact is, I have never had a
young male address me in any way I
found offensive. However, it is a daily
ritual for me with the young ladies.
I used to go to a coffee shop four
times a week. About three years ago, as
be addressed as “Sweetie” or “Sweet-
heart.” It came with a condescending
tone, too. I heard them address old-
er women the same way. I quit going
there. I took my late wife’s brother to
our local steakhouse. The young host-
ess escorted us to the darkest corner and
after we were seated, lit the table candle
and said coyly, “This will make it more
romantic for you guys.”
Maybe these young females should
get some sensitivity training before
they are put into positions where they
come into contact with the public. Just
because we are over 60 doesn’t mean
we suddenly need coddling. — Sonora,
California
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
STONE SOUP
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). There’s
something you want to put off, but the very
fact that you feel that way about it means
you probably shouldn’t. Handle the hard
stuff early in the day just to get it over with.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You
are highly influential and may be able to
convince an entire crowd of people to do
something. This is, of course, most efficient-
ly accomplished with social media.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You
don’t usually consciously decide how you
want people to treat you, until they happen
to mistreat you. Then you understand clear-
ly where the boundary is, and you work to
reinforce that boundary for the future.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You’ll be
a great showman today with a production
that is truly magnificent. You don’t even want
credit. The artful aspect of it is that you daz-
zle them and make them feel as though
they had a major part in it.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Stress is
among the most harmful of outside forces.
Do what you can to make it easy on your-
self. Reduce the tension. There are simple
ways to dial down the pressure. Start by
asking for help.
TUESDAYDAY’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 13).
Enterprising and courageous, you will do
what you set out to do. Therefore, it’s import-
ant to mentally try on different outcomes to
sense which would be the most advanta-
geous fit. March will bring colorful personali-
ties to your world. June shows a shift in your
professional goals. You will lead the pack in
September. Pisces and Aries people adore
you. Your lucky numbers are: 30, 1, 22, 17
and 45.