Caring daughter can't control parents' spending

Dear Minnesota: Your parents should inform their daughter that it would be a hardship on friends and family members to attend a destination wedding. We hope they can persuade her to be more inclusive and understand that the "ideal" wedding is less about location and more about the people who share the occasion. You also should tell her that, much as you love her, you don't believe you will be able to attend due to the distance and expense. Of course, Colorado isn't that far away from Minnesota, and if you start saving your pennies now, you might be able to get there and find modest accommodations. But if not, wish your sister the best and try to mean it.

Dear Annie: I read the letters about what to call someone's live-in companion. Speaking of those indefinable relationships, my cousin would introduce his long-time lady love as follows: "This is my umm ... er ... ah ... Mary."

Henceforth, everyone in the family with someone special in their lives would refer to that person as "My Ummerah." — Danbury, Conn. Dear Danbury: Sounds very exotic. Thanks for the laugh.

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Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please e-mail your questions to anniesmailbox@comcast.net, or write to: Annie's Mailbox, P.O. Box 118190, Chicago, IL 60611. © Creators Syndicate Inc.