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Safely Store

Dear Readers: There are some documents, certificates and other valuable items that might be better held in your bank’s safe deposit box rather than in a shoebox under the bed or in the closet at home. What are they? Here’s what you need to know: * The title to your car — you really don’t need it until you sell the vehicle or trade it in, and then it can be expensive and time-consuming to replace. Also, marriage licenses, birth and death certificates and diplomas go well in a safe deposit box. * Stock and bond certificates — most of these are done online nowadays, but you ...

It Still Hurts

For some reason I didn't change the channel on the TV Wednesday night. With a single click I could have spared myself a revisit to that horrible day on Sept. 11, 2001. But I didn't. The History Channel offered an anniversary tribute show to that day when life as we knew it spiraled into chaos. Instead I sat frozen, watching the screen as if it were the first time I saw airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center's twin towers and then the Pentagon. I gasped as if I had never seen the people hurling themselves out of the towers or the police and firefighters running toward the ...

This Is the Year. Do Not Skip Out On the Flu Shot

DR. ROACH WRITES: Every year around this time I write a column on the different flu vaccines that are available. Before doing so this year, I want to implore readers to get their flu vaccine. If you have never gotten one, now is the time. If you had a bad reaction 20 years ago, give the vaccine another chance this year. If you have never had the flu and don’t see the reason for the vaccine, this is the year to start. The reason I say this is that as I write, COVID-19 cases continue to increase in many parts of North America. Hospitals will be stressed. More people getting the flu ...

Dealing With Ex-Girlfriends Causes Man Consternation

DEAR ABBY: What is acceptable after a breakup occurs? Several years ago, I reached out to an ex-girlfriend. We had dated for six months, but she broke up with me to take a job in another state. A year later, I heard through mutual friends that she had recently moved back. I didn’t call or text, but I did send an email asking how she was doing and if she’d like to talk. She completely freaked out! She threatened to get a restraining order and told many of our mutual friends that I had been stalking her for a year. From that experience I learned never to contact an ex-girlfriend if ...

Don’t Skip the Shots or the PT for Frozen Shoulder

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have been diagnosed with frozen shoulder after an X-ray by an orthopedic doctor. He sent me to physical therapy, but this is the slowest recovery and the most agonizing pain. No over-the-counter products help, and I do not want surgery. He offered a shot for the pain. I declined. I could go back for it but, I do not want a temporary solution. I’m told this could last one to three years. Any suggestions? — D.E. ANSWER: A frozen shoulder, also called adhesive capsulitis, is a painful loss of motion of one of the joints in the shoulder — the glenohumeral joint, ...

Man Who Threatened Suicide Demands His Guns Be Returned

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have been friends with another couple for more than 50 years. The four of us have shared lots of good times together. After recent open heart surgery, the husband became very depressed and talked to his wife about “ending it all.” She asked me to take the few handguns (all legal) they had in their home to be safe. I didn’t feel I could say no. I’m not interested in guns, but it seemed a simple request. So she “snuck” them out to me during our last visit. When the husband discovered what his wife had done, she told him about my role in it. He now ...