FEATURES
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2015
In-law tries to steal spotlight Tomorrow’s horoscope
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
Dear Annie: My daughter has
been engaged for several months.
Her invitations for the small, fam-
ily-only wedding were handwritten
and mailed six weeks before the
event.
The wedding is in two weeks.
Yesterday, my sister-in-law an-
nounced that she is giving my
brother a surprise party on my
daughter’s wedding day, three hours
after the ceremony begins. It’s two
weeks before his actual birthday.
And it’s not as though she planned
it because we’d have a ton of rela-
tives in town for the wedding. There
are only two family members who
don’t live nearby, and they are only
a couple of hours away. She could
have scheduled this birthday party
at any time.
This is the tackiest thing I’ve
ever heard of. I don’t even know
how to pretend it’s OK. I am just
speechless. Your thoughts? —
Bride’s Mother
Dear Susan: We completely
agree that your sister-in-law has
done something both tacky and with
underlying hostility. You don’t have
to pretend this is OK. It is not.
Would your husband speak to his
sister-in-law about the party and ask
that it be rescheduled? Is there any
other person who can intercede and
for some man she met on the In-
ternet. Now she is emailing family
members, demanding money and
threatening to sue for sole custody
Creators
of the children.
Syndicate Inc.
In no way should the writer’s
family respond to Mandy’s emails.
Kathy Mitchell
She sounds like she is serious-
and
ly mentally ill, and the truth is,
Marcy Sugar
psychiatry doesn’t always work.
People like “Mandy” are resistant
convince your sister-in-law that this to the meager therapies offered to
UHÀHFWVSRRUO\RQKHU"<RXDOVRFDQ people with severe pathology, and
tell her how unhappy and shocked they get worse with age, as they
you are by her decision to plan are increasingly isolated, addict-
this party in a way that deliberate- ed, rejected, entrenched in their
ly takes attention away from your defenses, etc.
daughter’s big day. Especially when
The only thing to do is nothing.
VKHGLGQ¶WFKHFNZLWK\RX¿UVW
There is no “rapprochement” with a
If she refuses to change her deranged and desperate person. We
plans, we recommend you ignore don’t like to advertise our failures,
what you can, and accept that but I guarantee that most seasoned
your sister-in-law lacks class. Do therapists would agree that people
your best to minimize your disap- with the described pathology never
pointment and any damage to your get better. — Portsmouth, N.H.
daughter and her groom. Put on a
Dear Portsmouth: Most chil-
good face and make the best of the dren desperately wish for normal,
day. Please don’t let anyone ruin it. stable parents. Even when they
Dear Annie: I am a psychia- realize a parent is mentally ill and
trist with 35 years of experience incapable of such normalcy, they
and would like to comment on the still hope for some type of reconcil-
letter from “Worried Mom.” Her iation, if only an acknowledgement
ex-daughter-in-law, “Mandy,” had that it won’t get better. We appre-
multiple affairs, eventually aban- ciate your honesty about therapy’s
doning her family and leaving town limitations.
Annie’s
Mailbox
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
ARIES (March 21-April 19). Accept
yourself as a work in progress. You will
bond with others through your humanity,
not through your perfection. You’re so at-
tractive when you let go of needing to do
things right.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You appre-
ciate a friend who can keep a secret. You
also appreciate a friend who can’t keep a
secret and gives you fair warning of this
inability. Your discretion will be important to
the day’s events.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You are the
guardian of your joy. Don’t let anyone take
it from you, and especially don’t let it slip
through your fingers while you’re paying
attention to things other than it.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). The safe
solutions might work, but where’s the fun
in that? You are extra-bold in your creativity
now, which makes this the perfect time to
come up with outlandish solutions to your
problems.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Abraham Lincoln
said, “When you have got an elephant by
the hind leg and he’s trying to run away, it’s
best to let him run.” Recognize the things
you have no control over and let them go.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Socializing
takes effort, but force yourself to do it even
though you don’t feel like it now. You’ll at-
tract admirers. It’s interesting the way peo-
ple fall for you when you couldn’t care less.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Try not to let
that vivid and restless imagination of yours
roam into dark places. Music, humor and
exercise will be best to keep your mind
reaching into the light.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Love is pay-
ing attention to who a person is and warmly
accepting that. Wanting someone to be dif-
ferent is the opposite of love. If you are expe-
riencing this kind of rejection trying to pass
for love, it’s important that you label it.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). The
wish hasn’t been granted yet, and already
you feel thankful for it. Tonight, people feel
they can be themselves around you. When
you’re relaxed and others are relaxed, the
magic sets in.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Your
work needs more structure to it. With the
right systems in place, you can succeed
beyond your expectations. Sign up for a
course or enlist the help of a tough coach
or teacher.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The things
you want should match up with the things
you’re willing to do to get what you want.
Look for the discrepancies and decide
whether it might be time to adjust your goal.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You weren’t
always this person, but the seeds were
there and you grew them. You might be
surprised at what seeds are in you now.
Add water, and then stand back to see
what happens.
WEDNESDAY’S BIRTHDAY (Aug. 19).
What you think will happen over the next
three weeks will indeed, so hold tight to
that optimism! The whole team is rooting
for you in September (yes, even the jeal-
ous ones). Your heart is fulfilled by a loved
one’s actions in November. There’s big
work to be done to accomplish lifestyle
changes in January. Pisces and Aries peo-
ple adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 6,
24, 32, 35 and 18.