FEATURES
6A
Adult kids are not invited
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2016
Tomorrow’s horoscope
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
Dear Annie: There is a cou-
ple that socializes with us and our
friends. They constantly drop hints
that their adult children (living at
home) should be invited to our
events. They say things like, “Becky
would really enjoy coming to your
house. She loves the way you cook.”
Sometimes they just show up at the
door with their adult children and
say, “I hope you don’t mind.”
How do you respond to such
requests? And how do we prevent
future occurrences? These people
can be rather insistent. They seem
to feel that we would be missing so
much if their adult children didn’t
attend. — Hostess in Louisiana
Dear Hostess: These peo-
ple want their children included in
everything and have little consider-
ation for their hosts. When they ask
to bring Becky, it’s perfectly OK to
say, “I’m so sorry, but I can’t accom-
modate her this time.” If they say
they won’t attend without her, the
response should be, “We’ll miss
you.”
Showing up unexpectedly at the
door is a more dificult issue. Since
they do this frequently, you would
be justiied in turning them away,
saying, “So sorry, but we didn’t
plan on an additional person. We’d
be happy to host you and Becky
Annie’s
Mailbox
Creators
Syndicate Inc.
Kathy
Mitchell and
Marcy Sugar
another time.” (We know someone
who once sweetly and cheerfully
directed an adult child to a playroom
with 5-year-olds.) But you also can
be gracious and accept that Becky
will tag along whenever you invite
this couple. Your choice is simply to
invite them or not. If the constant tag-
alongs are a major nuisance, you can
stop including this couple and they
will undoubtedly igure out why.
Dear Annie: Like “Fed Up Sis-
ter,” my brother was also a brag-
gart. From his teenage years on, he
always tried to one-up everyone. He
was the youngest of six and didn’t
realize that the rest of us compared
notes about his stories. We felt the
bragging must be important to him,
so we never let on. He was always
the life of the party and fun to be
around. He went through three mar-
riages, had ive children and still his
claims of grandeur continued. We
always believed that his bragging
stemmed from not feeling as suc-
cessful as his siblings.
When his last marriage dissolved,
he didn’t bounce back like he always
had before. We received a call from
the police one day that he had shot
himself. He was dead at age 48. His
life had been a series of stories about
how great things were and how won-
derfully he was doing. In reality, we
learned that he was an insecure and
lost person.
I wish we had been able to see
through his stories to the insecuri-
ties underneath. But we loved him
and didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
Maybe if we had called him on those
stories, things might have different.
We will never know. I want to tell
“Fed Up” and everyone else in this
position to just love your siblings
while you can. You never know how
long they will be here. — Still Griev-
ing Sister
Dear Sister: You have given
kind advice. Please stop blam-
ing yourself for not doing enough
for your brother. You knew he was
insecure, but confronting him about
the bragging may have pushed him
away from you altogether. You were
loving and tolerant, which is what
siblings should be. Our deepest
condolences.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). Life is a bit
like a reality cooking show. At some point,
the timer rings and every chef has to throw
up hands and back away from his or her cre-
ation. Keep smiling. Your attitude is part of the
presentation.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). The predica-
ment is that you have more than you need,
but it’s not necessarily what you want. The
answer is to put the word out. A trade or fortu-
itous sale will rock your world.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). In order to ar-
rive at the next port together, someone has
to be steering the boat at all times. It doesn’t
have to be the same person. You can and
should switch off, consciously and carefully.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Your secret
may be small and dull, but no one will know
that as long as you keep it to yourself. So
be elusive and pretend you have something
juicy. They don’t care what the mystery is;
they just care that there is one.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). If your life were a
physical space, you would want to fill it with
something totally gorgeous or nothing at all.
Strongly consider the latter now. Voids can
be peaceful. Wide-open monochrome skies
stretch like promises.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The struggles
you’ve experienced in life are what allow you
to have such compassion for those who are
going through a hard time right now. Your will-
ingness to listen without judgement is a rare
gift.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Same story, dif-
ferent audience. You’ll be fascinating to one
person, funny to another and adorably vul-
nerable to the next. How you’re received is
out of your control. Give what you give and
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE
see what happens.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Those who
hear “yes” too often don’t know what to do
with the word “no.” Some take it hard while
others won’t even accept it and will proceed
as though it was never uttered. Stay firm in
your answer, whatever it may be.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Protect-
ing your joy is just as important as safeguard-
ing your health and well-being. If it’s getting in
the way of your fun, deal with it swiftly. Swat
it like the pest it is, metaphorically speaking,
of course.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Formality
has its place. Social patterns are reassuring.
You’ll build excellent rapport with someone as
you display commonly accepted behaviors
and a relatable sense of internal structure.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). There’s a
sense that the danger has passed, the awk-
wardness is over and everyone can breathe
easy before getting back to what they were
doing before the disruption.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Three will be
the magic number that brings luck to you to-
day. It will be the ideal number of meals to eat
and items for your to-do list, and it will be the
perfect head count for your dinner reserva-
tions as well.
SATURDAY’S BIRTHDAY (May 28). You’ll
go in to this year with the sense that every-
thing is linked in purpose, whether or not that
purpose is known. Your hope and optimism
will attract angelic characters to you — truly
affectionate and helpful souls who are com-
mitted to seeing you shine. August brings a
big sale. The win goes to you in October. Pi-
sces and Leo adore you. Your lucky numbers
are: 3, 16, 38, 45 and 10.