Goren Bridge

QUESTION 1: Neither as South, you hold:

A82 10 5 4 Q J

1♠ Pass 2♠

3♣ Pass ?

What call would you make?

A: You don’t have enough to bid 4S over partner’s game try, but game might be there if your diamonds are useful. Bid 3D and let partner decide.

Q: North-South vulnerable, South, you hold:

J54 A94 AQ95 A74 Right-hand opponent opens 1NT, 15-17. What call would you make?

A: The “book” says you have enough for a double, but this would be a marginal double. Having no good lead, we would pass.

Q: East-West vulnerable, as you hold:

Q 10 9 6 2 AKJ7 82 J6 As dealer, what call would you make?

A: Only 11 points and with an isolated jack, but holding nine cards in the majors with an easy rebid, open 1S.

Q: Both vulnerable, hold: 1♥ Pass 2♦

2♥ Pass 3♣

What call would you make?

A: 3H would be forcing, but bid 4H, suggesting a weakish hand that must play in hearts.

Q: North-South vulnerable, South, you hold:

K54 Q932

1♦ 1♠

Pass Pass

*Negative

What call would you make?

A: No call is safe, but you have too much too pass. Another double would still be for takeout, so we would bid 2NT.

Q: East-West vulnerable, you hold:

Q73 A:

Dear Amy: My mother-inlaw, “Jane,” is an alcoholic. She underwent surgery in 2015 and got a new liver and kidney, after being on dialysis and nearly losing her life.

Jane didn’t drink for a while after that, but in the last seven or eight months we have noticed that she seems to be drinking again.

Not only is she drinking, but her behavior seems strange. She is in her 60s and recently got two tattoos; she has stolen things from my home and she has been spending my father-in-law’s money to buy random things online. She opens credit card accounts, buys frivolous things, and throws away the statements, with no intention of making payments. My husband and I simply do not trust her around our children.

Although my husband’s family knows her behavior is not normal, no one says or does anything. — Bothered Daughter-In-Law

Dear Bothered: I’m not sure how your mother-in-law’s tattoos or erratic spending habits would impact your children, but obviously, she should not be with children unless you are present. I sense that you might be using access to your kids to launch your campaign to get someone in this family to wake up and smell the booze.

Sometimes it takes an “outsider” (an in-law, for instance, who didn’t grow up in this enabling family system) to shine a torchlight on the obvious.

What you can’t do is be a one-woman rescue squad, mainly because these enabling family members will undermine and undo your efforts, possibly in very creative ways.

You can ask your mother-inlaw: “Jane, I sense that you are drinking and hope you will get help to stop.”

You and your husband should attend Al-Anon meetings (al-anon.org). He, especially, will continue to wrestle with conflicted feelings regarding his parents’ behavior.