Opinion

Dear Annie: I married a man who earned less than me seven years ago and now collects disability. He paid for cable and electricity way back when while I covered everything else. Over the past three years, I have received a few lump sums of money, one in the form of an auto accident payout and the other was an inheritance my father left me this past summer.

Dear Annie: I have three children, a son and two daughters. My son resides in the same city as I do. I am a widow. We have always been a close family. However, my youngest daughter is not coming to visit as she once did. She is divorced; her former husband had an affair. She is seeing someone and spends most of her free time with him. She has four children and is a grandmother. My grandchildren are grown, but they have not come to see me in three years. I have helped my daughter financially, paid for children’s clothes, school activities and many other things. I recently paid for a root canal for her.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken -- who was planning to leave last Friday on a trip to the People’s Republic of China -- gave an address last Monday at the International Religious Freedom Summit where he happened to mention that the Chinese leaders he was preparing to visit were at that moment engaging in genocide.

In Joe Biden’s America, it’s morning. For Republicans, it’s now 3 a.m. in an after-hours bar. The people are wasted, hollering about their “enemies,” some working to repurpose their bad behavior into grifting opportunities.

Today is the 41st day of 2023 and the 52nd day of winter. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1840, Britain’s Queen Victoria married Prince Albert.

A sidewinder missile fired from a U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter brings down a 200-foot-diameter balloon off the coast of South Carolina. U.S. Navy and Coast Guard aircraft and vessels are dispatched to search for and recover debris in the storm-tossed Atlantic Ocean. In Beijing, spokesmen for the People’s Republic of China insist the “airship,” which coasted over U.S. territory for more than a week, was nothing but a harmless weather balloon, inadvertently blown over the United States by unanticipated wind currents. In Washington, comments by government officials -- most of them nameless -- range from “don’t worry, this happens all the time” to “this is a major, perhaps existential threat to the American people.” At the White House, the seriously compromised president of the U.S. searches for ways to blame his predecessor for an unprecedented breach of U.S. airspace and the ensuing media circus.

Dear Annie: A longtime friend of mine, “Emily,” was served divorce papers right after the holidays by her husband, “Matt,” after a fairly short and seemingly rocky marriage. I don’t think this came as much of a surprise to her, but I know that she is still taking it very hard, especially considering the time of year this all fell apart. She seems embarrassed by the situation and stressed about having to find a lawyer and go to court.

I’m giving a Lincoln’s birthday party Sunday. The tallest guest will read a short speech.

Today is the 40th day of 2023 and the 51st day of winter. T ODAY’S HISTORY: In 1825, the U.S.