FEATURES
6A
Tomorrow’s horoscope
Friend gone when needed
Dear Annie: My husband was
recently transferred at work to New
York City from Chicago. That meant
having to start all over again. Three
years ago, we had a beautiful baby girl,
Sophia. As a stay-at-home mom, I had
worked hard at building a strong sup-
port network in Chicago with friends
and family. When we irst arrived at
Sophia’s new school, we found peo-
ple to be a little standofish. It was not
the Midwestern friendliness we were
used to.
A month passed by and still no
friends or community. My husband
and I just thought this would be the
new normal. Then I met Chloe at Cen-
tral Park. She has a little girl, named
Madeline, who is just Sophia’s age.
She’s originally from Cleveland. Her
husband had been transferred to New
York the previous year. She had the
same Midwestern friendliness and
warmth that were so familiar. Need-
less to say, we instantly became great
friends. She introduced me to some of
the other neighborhood moms. Within
weeks, I felt a sense of community and
was beginning to love my new city.
One sunny spring day while Chloe
and I were pushing our daughters on
the swings at Central Park, she said,
“I’m pregnant. We’re expecting in
September.” I was so surprised. I was
pregnant, too, but had wanted to wait
Dear Annie
By
Annie
Lane
Creators
Syndicate
Inc.
the traditional 12 weeks before telling
anyone. I was so caught off guard that
I blurted out, “I am, as well.” Chloe
was so enthusiastic about the whole
thing, going on and on about how
the new babies could be best friends
like our daughters or how they could
get married someday. It was so nice
to have a pregnant buddy. We could
commiserate about how exhausted
we felt and how none of our clothes it
anymore. I was really starting to love
New York — until my husband and I
went for our 12-week checkup. There
was no heartbeat. A few days later, I
miscarried.
My husband and I were both so
sad. At irst, all I wanted to do was stay
in bed all day and cry. But I knew that
I had to be strong for my daughter and
husband. I joined a support group for
women who have miscarried and, day
by day, began to feel better. The group
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JULY 18, 2016
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
encouraged me to reach out to friends,
and that is just what I did. I shared my
tragedy with Chloe. Her eyes became
watery as I shared the news with her.
But very quickly, she changed the sub-
ject. As time went on, she never spoke
of her pregnancy amid a growing
belly. When she delivered her baby in
September, she slowly started calling
me less and not making plans.
Since my miscarriage, I have felt a
huge drift in our friendship right at a
time when I have needed a friend the
most. Why do you think she is acting
this way? — Friend in Need
Dear Friend: First off, I’m so
sorry for your loss. It sounds as if you
and your husband have taken all the
right steps to properly grieve.
Chloe seems like a great friend
when everything is going well and
easy. Try telling her how you feel. She
may be feeling guilty that she has a
healthy baby and you don’t, and she
may think you’d be uncomfortable
around her. Make clear to her that you
just need a friend.
If you don’t see a change in the
friendship after that, dump her. You
don’t need someone in your life who
heads for the hills when things get a lit-
tle complicated. In a city of 8.4 million
people, surely you can ind a friend
who will be there for you when times
are good or bad.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). When things
drop off your schedule naturally, don’t fight it
or try to reschedule right away. Let it happen.
You will experience a greater level of time-af-
fluence and feel truly rich!
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Nothing takes
you out of the moment like criticizing your
own thoughts. Also, it’s impossible to be ful-
ly awake and mindful and judge all of your
thoughts at the same time. So how about you
go easy on yourself?
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Has a perfect
stranger ever captured your attention to the
point where you project an entire persona
onto the person? Should you actually get to
know this person, be careful not to let that
made-up persona blur into the reality.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). You crave a
sense of spaciousness — in your environ-
ment, in your head, in your soul. You can’t rid
the whole world of clutter, but you can start
with a room, and that will begin the journey.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). There are forces
at work that you don’t know about and won’t
know about until the plot thickens. Suffice it to
say, you’ll have angels on your side when you
need them. Let that comfort and inspire you.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Because you
really love a person, you’ll sacrifice much to
make things work, get along and accom-
modate wishes. If you also happen to be
extremely compatible with this person, even
such efforts won’t require much energy.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You can’t blame
a person for just trying to have fun, even if
your kind of fun is in direct opposition to this
person’s. Probably the most graceful thing will
be to remove yourself from the situation.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Maybe you’ve
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
behaved badly to someone in the past, but of
course that doesn’t make you bad in gener-
al. Perhaps you need a new cast and setting.
Different people (and environments) bring
out different sides of you.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You are
not your thoughts. Thoughts are just ideas
passing through the atmosphere, most of
them not even generated by you, just yours
to claim or not claim depending on what best
suits the person you want to be.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Once you
learn a new way to make money you’ll expe-
rience a financial upswing. It will be a day to
investigate options, poke around, ask ques-
tions and try to determine what interests you
enough to follow through to the finish.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You are
there for your friend, regardless of the details
of this person’s troubles. First of all, it will be
a while before you even know those details,
and second of all, that’s the kind of person
you are.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You may
have emotionally moved on from a situation,
but there are remnants of it everywhere, not
to mention a few practical matters connected
with it that need to be cleared up. Today is a
good day to start.
TUESDAY’S BIRTHDAY (July 19). It
doesn’t make sense, but you will get younger
as the year progresses. What used to wor-
ry you will no longer be an issue after July.
What you used to approach seriously you’ll
approach playfully in August. You’ll transform
your living space with the bonus you receive
in September. In October expect love letters
and visits. Virgo and Aquarius adore you.
Your lucky numbers are: 5, 17, 40, 22 and 8.