Colleague is refusing payment for extra help

Dear Abby: My colleagues and I were notified that our company is closing next month. My work partner and I have collaborated closely for four years, and he’s an expert at the software I need to know to get a job in my field. When I asked if he would give me a couple of lessons via Zoom, I was thinking it’d be about a three-hour commitment for him. But he was enthusiastic and designed a 20-plus-hour curriculum for me.

He keeps saying he doesn’t want me to pay him, but I want to find a way to express my gratitude. What would be an appropriate amount to compensate him without getting too steep (which is why I didn’t do the full-price software training in the first place. It was $2K)? Thanks for any advice. — Thankful in Illinois

Dear Thankful: If you know of any interests, hobbies, a sport, etc. your partner has outside the workplace, consider going online to see if you can find something connected to that activity he would enjoy that’s within your budget.

Dear Abby: Every year on Facebook’s “National Daughter’s Day,” my daughter’s mother-in-law professes her love, respect and admiration for her own daughter, but never acknowledges her daughterin-law (my daughter). Yet on “National Son’s Day,” she posts glowing tributes not only to her sons, but also to her son-in-law.

Should I address this issue with the mother-in-law or continue to bite my tongue? — Dismissed in Texas

Dear Dismissed:

Mention it to your son-inlaw and point out to him that being slighted is hurtful. There may be a better result if HE brings it up to his mother.