Horoscopes

Aries (March 21-April 19): The spirit of adventure is rather obviously alive in you. You’ll raise eyebrows and get other kinds of attention from people who wish they had the guts to take on life the way you do today! Taurus (April 20-May 20): You don’t get to choose your family, your colleagues or your neighbors. When you can be friends with someone who also happens to be a person you didn’t choose, it really feels like the universe is on your side. Gemini (May 21-June 21): You’ll make something interesting happen socially, something that no one was expecting. Because of you, the other person feels empowered to take a risk. This is getting good. Cancer (June 22-July 22): If one person is calling all of the shots, no matter how brilliant this person may be, the situation will not be as stable as a scene with a few diverse leaders who can balance one another. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): There is magic in your writing. You can really use it today in a number of possible directions. Writing things down can make them more real, easier to let go of or harder to forget. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You can’t be completely known, because you’re not one definitive way. Different environments and people pull out new sides of you. Today it will feel like you’re deciding who to be with every little choice you make. Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23): No one likes to be criticized, but right now you really want to know you’ve been seen, that others are trying to understand what you do. If they have a critical opinion, it will ultimately inform and help you. Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21): The events you’ll deal in today may only be important to the players involved. Outsiders wouldn’t understand. There’s a good feeling attached to knowing you are on the inside. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): There will be a great level of complexity to your dealings. There will be rules to follow, stated and unspoken. The more sensitive you are to the latter kind, the less you’ll have to abide by the former kind. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You may not be in the mood to “be yourself” today, and if you want to be someone else for a while instead, you’ll find a way to do this playfully and ethically. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Destroying someone’s illusions is just as damaging as destroying personal property. To respect a person is to respect the mythology that the person lives within. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): There’s pleasure in work and work in pleasure. Right now it will be easier for you to extract the joy from difficult endeavors than it will for you to take the difficulty out of joyful endeavors.

To write to Holiday Mathis, visit www.creators. com/author/holiday-mathis and click “Contact.” DEAR ABBY >> I have known this guy “Noah” for six years. We’re mostly just friends with benefits, but I’ve always had deeper feelings for him. I always wanted to see where things could go between us, so I mentioned it to him. He told me that if he didn’t already have a girlfriend, he would have dated me. So when they broke up, I waited patiently.

I continued being a good friend to Noah, giving him advice and putting my own feelings off to the side. Then just when I felt us getting to another level in our relationship, he told me he had another girlfriend and we needed to stop. I would never sleep with a guy who is with someone else. I’m not that type of girl.

What should I do? I’m confused and hurt at the same time. Should I bring up my feelings again? Just let him go? Or should I keep him in my life, but in a friend-only way?

— Jumbled emotions

DEAR JUMBLED >> I don’t blame you for feeling confused. When someone’s words and actions don’t match, something is wrong. If Noah had been honest, you would have had your chance with him.

I vote for letting him go because you want more than he’s apparently able to give. If you do, it may hurt for a while, but it will make it easier for you to find someone who can love you back.

DEAR ABBY >> We recently lost one of our cherished pets, our oldest cat, Mandy. We never had children, so our pets ARE our children.

I get that people who have never had pets don’t understand the joy and unconditional love they can bring. But I don’t understand why people we thought were close to us haven’t acknowledged our loss in any way. Some of them have — or had — pets at one time. A few did send cards or emails, and they were so appreciated. Their kindness will never be forgotten.

Mandy wasn’t sickly. She just stopped eating one day. When we took her to the vet a few days after trying everything we could think of, the diagnosis was kidney cancer. A couple of days later we had to make the heartbreaking decision to put her to sleep.

My question is, am I expecting too much of people? After all, you wouldn’t ignore the death of a human child. I’m not only disappointed but resentful that these so-called friends and family don’t seem to care.

I suppose to some Mandy was “just a cat.” But to us, she was our beloved furry child and we are devastated. Please inform people that a kind word or short note would mean the world to people like us who are suffering real grief.

— Deeply grieving in Illinois

DEAR DEEPLY GRIEVING >> Please let me offer my condolences for the loss of Mandy. I know from personal experience what you are going through, and it is very painful. That’s why I’m reminding readers that when they hear of someone losing a beloved pet, the kindest thing one can do is to offer sympathy with a phone call, an email or a card. Believe me, the effort WILL be appreciated and never forgotten.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Abby shares more than 100 of her favorite recipes in two booklets: “Abby’s Favorite Recipes” and “More Favorite Recipes by Dear Abby.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $14 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Cookbooklet Set, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)