Dear Queenie,
My mother is getting older and she lives alone and I can’t always be there for her, so I made an emergency kit for her with prescriptions, doctors’ names, insurance cards, emergency phone numbers, her will, power of attorney, and $100 in cash in an envelope. I put one copy in the trunk of her car and one by her front door.
When she had a bad fall and had to be taken to the hospital, the people who rescued her told me the kit was a huge help in caring for her.
Queenie, don’t you think your other readers would benefit from this idea?—Faithful reader
Dear Faithful reader,
Indeed I do. Thank you for the thought. Readers, take careful note!
Dear Queenie,
I moved in with my boyfriend after just a few months of dating and now I am sorry I did because of the way he treats me. I was ready to break up with him and move out, but all of a sudden he said he was sorry and he would try to change, so I waited to see what would happen.
He did change, but he could just as easily change back and I just don’t love him anymore and I don’t want to try.
Queenie, should I give him another chance?—Can’t decide
Dear Can’t decide,
Your boyfriend may be trying to do better, but I think he is too late. When a romance dies it usually stays dead. If you do not even want to try to revive your relationship, you do not have much chance of succeeding. Pack up your things and go.
Dear Queenie,
My wife and I gave my mother a beautiful piece of jewelry for her last birthday. She is getting old, and when she passes away I would like to give that piece to my wife, but I think my mother is planning to leave all her jewelry to one of my brother’s daughters and I expect the person who inherits it will probably sell it.
Queenie, would it be okay for me to ask my mother to leave this particular piece to me?—Looking ahead
Dear Looking ahead,
I cannot think of any reason your mother would be offended if you ask her to do this. However, if she does not wish to change her will, or does not have time to do so, and you think the person who inherits it will probably sell it anyway, you could offer to buy the piece from her when the time comes, at whatever price she could have gotten from someone else – and it may turn into a bidding war.
Dear Queenie,
When I send out invitations for a special event most of the people don’t bother to let me know if they are going to attend, even if I include an RSVP card or my phone number so they can call me. I never know how many people to provide for. Sometimes there is a lot of food left over that just goes to waste, but if I don’t provide enough for everyone I invited, there might not be enough for everyone who comes.
Queenie, why don’t people have the courtesy to reply to an invitation?—Fed-up hostess
Dear Hostess,
Of course people should have the courtesy to reply to an invitation, especially when there is an RSVP card or request included. At the very least they should e-mail you, so be sure to include an e-mail address in the invitation.
All you can do is phone the ones who do not and ask them whether they will attend. And you have my permission to call them collect if it is a toll call.
Dear Queenie,
When a good friend since high school recently told me that her husband was cheating on her and asked me for advice, I told her I have been in love with her since high school and she replied that she has been in love with me too.
Now she is getting a divorce from her husband because of his cheating and once the divorce is final we plan to move in together. However, another friend of ours says we are committing adultery because she is breaking up her marriage to be with me.
Queenie, is that true? We haven’t had sex or done anything more than make plans for after the divorce is final.—Confused
Dear Confused,
According to the dictionary definition of “adultery”, you have not committed it.
If your friend has been in love with you all this time she could not have had a very good marriage and her husband’s cheating was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.
