Opinion

DEAR ABBY: My husband’s best friend, “Kevin,” lost his wife three years ago. He’s currently in a relationshipwithhisniece (his deceased brother’s daughter). Kevin is in his 60s; she’s in her 50s. We find this disgusting and do not condone it. They are both from Portugal. Is this acceptable in other countries?

Dear Dave, My wife and I owe about $40,000 on our mortgage. My father-inlaw, who is a very nice and generous man, said he wants to pay off the house for us, then let us pay him back over time.

Monett’s city election sparked several interesting observations. We have just seen the most spirited election campaign in Monett in 25 years.

DEAR ABBY: I’m in a sexless 25-year marriage. It was not always this way, but any intimacy has been over for more than a decade.

Dear Dave, Our son will be graduating from high school in May, and then heading off to college in August. He will also be working during the summer to save up money for school.

EAR ABBY: I need a second opinion. My grandfather sold me an old farmstead that has been in the family for 200 years. Last week, he showed me a wooded area behind the barn with a human skull. He told me that when his father died more than 50 years ago, he was curious about how long it would take a body to decompose, so he left his body in the woods to keep track of its progress. He has 50 years’ worth of pictures and notes. He told the rest of the family that Great-Grandpa had been cremated, and apparently no one questioned him about the ashes.

Dear Dave, I’m trying to work my way out of debt, but it seems like something always happens to stall things or knock me backwards. I make $55,000 a year, I’m single and I have $15,000 in debt, along with a mortgage payment of $1,224 a month.

At the candidate forum for Monett’s city council, I raised the question of what has become of the Monett Industrial Development Corporation. Mayor Mike Brownsberger, who has served on the MIDC board for years, said this body, the longest established economic development arm of the Monett community, hadn’t been absorbed by the city when it became a not-for-profit several years ago.

The forum for candidates running for Monett City Council seats on March 19 generated important commentary about Monett’s downtown and its future. Mayor Mike Brownsberger, who knows downtownbetterthananyof the candidates, having run a retail business on Broadway for decades, declared the kind of business district that anchored Monett for its first 120 years had seen its day come and go.