siameselouis's reply history at Help.com

He’s an attorney and lives in Monroeville, Alabama, with his daughter, Scout, in the story. JM’s right–it’s a fantastic book!

Yes, by all means, show her your book! You should be proud of it, and, after all, girls like all kinds of books! I’d be impressed that someone wrote their own book, regardless of whether I liked the subject matter or not. It’s a win-win situation for you! Good luck!

That’s a tough one–are your family and the boss friends? If so, your dad could just ask her for the lend of it as a favor. Or maybe you could make a “barter” arrangement with her for the lend of it–trade something for it. It could even be something that doesn’t cost your family anything, like so-many hours of housekeeping or babysitting her children–yardwork might do, what-have-you. The probablem with direct hinting is that some people consider it rude, and then she might get annoyed and not lend it out. Since you took care of the house, she might be agreeable to one of the suggestions above. Good luck; I know how important vacations are!

I am a cancer survivor myself–had bone cancer 10 years ago. Everything tends to go haywire in a family, whether things were great to begin with, when someone becomes seriously ill. It’s also normal for the sick person to become totally focussed on the sickness–after all, s/he’s fighting for his/her life. Don’t take on the responsiblity for fixing your parents’ marriage–only they can do that, and whatever they do is not any fault of your own. Maybe some counseling for them, or at least for your mom, would help? There’s bound to be a clinical social worker (counselor) at the center where she’s getting her treatment. I hope things work out well for all of you.

Don’t be ashamed–we all do stuff that we regret later–ALL of us do, trust me on this! Anybody would be stressed out with having to deal with Jackie; she’s got too many problems for one person to handle alone. Everything will be much better if you can get everything out in the open. Oh, Ok, if the teachers know and won’t do anything, what about Jackie’s parents? Your parents? There’s got to be somebody who can help. She needs to leave you alone and get some help.

Where do you live? If you’re in the US, social workers at the hospital where he was treated ought to be able to help. They can help find solutions re. paying his medical bills and either help you–or find somebody to help you–talk about what’s happened. They can be great support. They may be able to arrange for some home-based nursing care for him, so you don’t have to do it all. I will pray for you all–God bless.

Your friend has some problems–she may be jealous of you and the attention that you get from other people, especially guys. If I were you, I’d be assertive and not give in to what she wants you to do–monopolizing ALL of your time like that is immature and selfish on her part! Follow her ORDERS, and you’ll end up with no friends but her–which may be how she wants it! If she refuses to budge, you may have to put that friendship on the back burner until she comes to her senses. Trust me on this–I had a friend like her in high school. Real friends want the best for their friends and aren’t possessive. Good luck!

I’m so sorry to hear about your baby and hope that she’s doing better now. Before becoming disabled, I worked as a social worker in the medical field. Have you talked to the social workers at the children’s hospital? They can usually figure out some way to help with expenses–sometimes there are grants, donations, and such to be used for travel and other needs. You might contact your local paper and ask them to do a story on your baby–maybe a local bank would then set up a fund so that people can make donations for your needs. Try contacting the American Heart Association, too–social workers there probably have access to money for those needs. Best of luck to you and your baby–God bless.

Hi–congratulations on your coming out! I love your idea for the card! Life is easiest when you can just be comfortable in your own skin! I wish you much happiness in the years ahead!