Opinion

DEAR ABBY: We recently moved to a new neighborhood. My 8-year-old son, “Joey,” has become best friends with a classmate, “Paul,” who lives on our street. We know from research we did when we bought our house that Paul’s stepfather, with whom he lives, is a sex offender who committed crimes against children and served time in prison.

Dear Dave, My husband is a good, hard-working man, who has been stuck in a job he really doesn’t like for almost 10 years. He came to me the other day with an idea to cash out his 401(k) and using the money to open a business.

DEAR ABBY: I recently started planning my wedding. Half the friends I want as bridesmaids are very conservative. They think sex is sacred and should be talked about only discreetly, not joked about, mentioned on TV, etc. I used to hold similar views, but I no longer do. Neither do the other half of the girls I want as bridesmaids.

Dear Dave, My wife and I have been married for nine months, and we’ve been following your Baby Steps plan for three months. We have about $50,000 in debt, and I recently cashed out an old whole life policy that enabled us to pay off $22,000 of our debt.

There’s an old axiom that says if a town is not growing, it’s dying. That’s a rather simple formula that sounds good but doesn’t apply very well on the ground.

Missouri’s Senate is heading into uncharted territory that could disrupt the legislative process for the remaining months of this year’s session. It involves a deep split among Senate Republicans by members of a new national conservative organization who are challenging Missouri GOP Senate leaders.

I have long called the Monett Chamber of Commerce’s annual membership meeting the most important night of the year in town. Like no other event, it brings together Monett’s most important business and civic leaders. These days I’m inclined to call it Monett’s happiest night, for it marks a celebration of those who have worked to build this community.

EAR ABBY: Years ago, I sat over lunch, reading your mom’s “Definition of Maturity.” It was shortly after my dad died, and reading it made me realize how lucky I had been. Those were all lessons I learned at home from my parents.