Dear Abby: Counseling Urged for Trauma-Affected Partner; Guidance Offered on Funeral Attendance

As of March 17, 2026, 09:00 AM, the syndicated advice column Dear Abby published responses to two reader letters that raised relationship and end-of-life planning concerns. In the column, the columnist recommended professional counseling for a man described as emotionally withdrawn after a traumatic episode involving a former partner and offered practical direction to a long-married spouse worried about a former spouse attending future funeral services.

In the first letter, a woman using the pen name "Loves My Teddy Bear Man" said her partner, identified as "Roy," is 44 and has been in a relationship with her for nearly 18 months. She reports they stopped being intimate five months ago, that he has pulled away emotionally, and that he will not introduce her to his mother though she has met his son. The columnist advised that the man’s avoidance and loss of sexual interest appear tied to unresolved trauma and recommended counseling as a necessary step for the relationship to progress.

The second correspondent, signing as "His Longtime Wife," described a husband who was divorced after a 10-year marriage and had four children who remained with their mother after he relocated. Now married to the letter writer for 38 years, he reportedly sat apart when his children and grandchildren joined his ex at his mother’s funeral. The columnist noted that the surviving spouse typically controls funeral arrangements and may lawfully limit attendance if she chooses. The column closed with a seasonal St. Patrick’s Day blessing and carried the byline noting Dear Abby (Abigail Van Buren, Jeanne Phillips) and the column’s founding by Pauline Phillips; reader contact information was published with a Los Angeles P.O. Box and a separate booklet mailing address in Kings Mills, Ohio.