Where did you learn it was up to you to make things better? Now focus on healing yourselfI had a lockdown romance with someone I met through online dating. He was the first man I’d dated after coming out of an abusive relationship, and it was refreshin…
A bar of dark milk butterscotch hits the spot after Kew
The gardens’ gift shop has plenty to satisfy my chocolate cravingThere is a photo in the family album, of me aged six or seven, wearing yellow shorts, crouched down on the lawn in front of the Palm House at Kew Gardens. Not long after, my parents bough…
My dad scorns my career goals. How do I keep us from falling out? | Annalisa Barbieri
You need to talk to him, but set the scene so that your father is more receptive to your point of view, says Annalisa BarbieriI have just turned 17 and will soon go to college. I have always done well at school; I don’t drink, use drugs or even have a …
Bars to keep you company
Sometimes you need a little something sweet when you’re all aloneBeing in someone’s else’s house when they are not there (and you’re not a burglar) is a contemplative experience, like walking round a film set. It may be people that make a home, but an …
Help! My parents won’t accept my move to my wife’s home country
You have given this decision a lot of thought and already plan to visit your parents. You haven’t done anything wrong, says Annalisa BarbieriMy wife and I have decided to move with our two young sons to her home country. It was a difficult decision and…
A childhood desire to wear women’s pants has returned. Is it perverted? | Ask Annalisa
Don’t be ashamed. Shame is for the other people in your life who failed you, says Annalisa BarbieriAs a child, I stole a pair of my mother’s high-waisted, pink and white nylon knickers and wore them under my short trousers to school. I was six years ol…