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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2019)
A6 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, ApRIL 29, 2019 Saying the wrong thing Dear Annie: My boy- all better. While I know that friend’s mother was recently your wish to cheer him up diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. comes from a place of love, It’s been really hard on him it can come across as min- and his family. I’ve been try- imizing the pain — which ing to be there for him adds insult to injury. DEAR as best I can, but it Sometimes the kind- ANNIE est thing we can do seems like I’m always for a loved one is to saying the wrong simply sit with him in thing. The other day, his pain and honor it. he was talking about You can also how difficult it is to express your love by think that there will cooking meals, run- eventually be a time when his mom can ANNIE LANE ning errands or help- Creators ing him out with any no longer remember Syndicate Inc. other practical aspects his or his brothers’ of everyday life that names. I told him that was years down the road and might fall to the wayside in to try not to think about it for the wake of this news. Ask now, to enjoy the quality time him to always feel free to he can still spend with her. He tell you what he needs from snapped at me and told me he you, whether he’d like to hear was allowed to think about it, reassurance or just wants to that it was a reality he’s fac- vent. ing. What is the right thing Lastly, you might encour- to say in these situations? — age him to attend a support Hesitant but Wanting to Help group. To find one in your Dear Hesitant: It’s area or to join a virtual sup- not about saying the right port community, visit https:// thing. The fact is that this is www.alz.org/help-support/ extremely upsetting news for community/support-groups. Dear Annie: I’d like to your boyfriend and his fam- ily, and there’s no combina- reference your column from tion of words that can make it Jan. 28, 2019, “Check Before You Donate Items.” I agree with most of your answer, as it seems some people think donations are the same as taking out the trash. How- ever, I was greatly disap- pointed with your comment, “You should never donate expired food.” I would hope you could use your column to educate your readers to the fact that expired food — “sell by,” “use by,” “use or freeze by,” “best if used by” or whatever else the dates mean — are not because the contents are bad. Most canned goods are good for weeks, months or years — most with no decrease in nutrition or flavor. We supposedly have many people in the country who do not have enough to eat yet we waste (throw away) 40 per- cent of our food. If it looks good and smells good, it’s good. The can con- tents cannot read. They do not know when to go bad. Same with milk and produce. — Waste Not, Want Not Dear Waste Not: Thank you for this enlightening take on sell-by dates. TOMORROW’S HOROSCOPE By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc. ARIES (March 21-April 19). There’s so much you don’t have to get mixed up in if you don’t want to. As you strive for a state of mental openness and receptivity, your stress levels plummet pleasantly. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). At some point, you’ll get about as much a return from your work as can happen. Keep in mind the law of diminishing returns. All the work you do after that point will yield less and less. Be alert to when you should move on. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Your way would have worked under different circumstances and with a different cast of characters. Alas, compromises were made. Good thing you’re so flexible and you’ll make the very most of it. CANCER (June 22-July 22). “Give ‘em the sizzle, not the steak,” may be the expression of con artists, though it’s not always a bad thing to get one less steak. Maybe the sizzle is enough right now. It applies across the board today. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). To form a vision is the essence of creativity and the heart of leadership. Build a border of practicality and reality around the vision to keep it from crossing into the realm of delusion. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’ve learned to be selective in what you share with people. You’ll stick with that strategy today to avoid engender- ing envy or causing people to focus on things that don’t matter to the relationship. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You could go deep if you wanted to; you’re certainly more than capable of understanding nuance and handling complexities. But what would be the purpose? There’s so much to accomplish on the surface right now. 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 SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). There’s a light ver- sion and a heavy version. Go with the temporary, lighter commitment for a while, just to try things out and get a better appreciation and under- standing for the full range of what’s available. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). The more you do, the more there is to criticize. That’s why you have to be tough to express yourself. It takes courage. You’d rather brave the way of the doer than go under the radar and have nothing to show for it. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). It takes confi- dence to keep it simple, and you’ve plenty of that. If there are too many fancy extra things, no one knows where to devote one’s attention. Anyway, you’re impressive without trying to be. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Because you trust yourself and your innate sense of timing, when circumstances arise that require immediate action, you go for it. The others who don’t know you yet haven’t learned what you can do, but they’ll learn. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). While fun is conta- gious, it’s also subjective. When they’re having fun and you’re not, or vice versa, it’s a sign that you’re in the wrong place. Keep moving until the good vibes are mutual. TOMORROW’S BIRTHDAY (April 30). The begin- ning of this solar return is marked by the spirit of playfulness, which creates both a general feeling of belonging for a group and deep and lasting bonds in certain relationships. You’ll be inventive and will come up with new systems and products to keep abundance flowing through your world. Capricorn and Libra adore you. Your lucky num- bers are: 9, 3, 20, 40 and 20.
