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Asking Eric: Responses to question from previous readers

Dear Eric: I just read the letter from “Sunny Side,” whose mother called multiple times a day with anxieties and would call Sunny Side’s friends if she didn’t pick up. My husband and I have been in a similar situation with an older relative. What I would suggest is to set up a time each day that she and her mom will talk, say every day at 7 p.m. (or whenever it’s convenient). That way Sunny Side knows when to mentally prepare herself for the call, and her mom knows when she will for sure be able to reach her.

It also takes the calls down to once per day, which is plenty. Sunny Side could make herself a cup of tea for the call or something to distract from the doom and gloom she knows is coming. Another suggestion would be to make sure her mom is engaged with some other people socially, so she doesn’t have to rely on talking to Sunny Side so much. Is there a senior center nearby with activities she could go to? Some senior organizations will send visitors to those who are homebound. I think working on this would help everyone, too – it did in our case.

– Happy Reader

Dear Happy Reader: Thank you for this suggestion. What’s great about it is it gives both the letter writer and her mom tools to help manage their expectations.

Dear Eric: After reading the letter from “Slighted Stepchild”, whose two stepparents cut him out of their wills after his parents died, I was angry on behalf of him and his brother. However, I feel there is a possibility that they may not have been disinherited by their birth parents.

I worked in the estate and trust business for almost 30 years before retiring, and saw some unbelievable things attempted by members of the deceased’s family. If the siblings have not read their parents recorded wills, or had their own attorney review them, then they should do so. They need to review only the will that was recorded in the courthouse in the area where each of their parents lived. If they can afford it, it would be best to consult an attorney to determine the legal fee to do this for them.

It would be sad, but entirely possible, that their parents’ second spouses may have withheld information from them or, under estate law of their parents’ states of residence, they may be entitled to a portion of their parents’ estates.

I know their hurt is deep, being excluded as children and adults from their parents’ love and lives, but they don’t know the influence that was put on their parents to do what they did.

– Suspicious Reader

Dear Reader: Thanks for this perspective. I hope the letter writer is able to track down some more concrete answers.

Read more Asking Eric and other advice columns.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

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Today’s daily horoscopes: Nov. 26, 2024

Given that hundreds of thousands of years of humanity have only featured a few hundred years of logical thinking, intellectual rigor is still a long way from becoming the default. For the best chance of being heard in these days of Mercury retrograde, try sending your message on the wings of action, emotion, aesthetics or poetics.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Opportunity will not arrive gift-wrapped. Instead, it will be hidden in small tasks or behind inconvenient circumstances. Keep your eyes open and dig deeper. You might find something in what others overlook or dismiss as unremarkable.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Listening begins with hearing the words and continues with understanding what’s beneath them. You will be surprised by how much people reveal when they feel truly seen and heard.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Trust takes time to build and moments to break. It is fragile and powerful. Today, nurture trust with others and yourself. When trust is present, relationships strengthen and your own confidence in life grows.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Should you join the crowd? The group is strong with you, and you are stronger in the group. Just don’t mistake submission for loyalty. Submission diminishes the self, while loyalty strengthens the whole.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’re clear on what you want, and you’re already drawing it into your orbit. You’re actively setting the stage for the wonder that matches your need but also surprises you with a bit of lovely complexity.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You respect time as a valuable resource and demand promptness from yourself. Through your example, you teach others to be direct and to avoid low-yield, wasteful uses of their moments.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You’ll think ahead about what you want to say to people, even in casual scenarios. You may go so far as to rehearse. You may not use any of what you practice, but it will give you the confidence to be versatile and quick when it matters.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You anticipate change in your own drive, moods and motivations. You’ll prepare to keep moving forward even when you don’t feel like it. You’ll create incentives and take measures to make it easy and fun to keep going.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Relax into the abstract. Dumb things can be touched with brilliance. Absurdity won’t be the solution, and the ridiculous won’t be the right answer, but at least it lays the groundwork for good ideas to blossom.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). The mistakes of the olden days were funny, like when people took pictures with the lens cap on, or without film. Today’s mistakes are funny, too. Keep a record so that later you can look back and laugh at these times.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You’re among the friendliest in the zodiac, but that doesn’t mean you’re always in the mood to initiate conversation. Today, it will be worth it to nudge yourself in the direction of reaching out. You’ll be better for having made the connection.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You’ve the drive to revitalize a tired project or rekindle a lost feeling for someone. Verify the wisdom of doing so early on because once you decide and the job’s underway, you’ll have joiners and unstoppable momentum.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Nov. 26). Hoist your sail and the winds will fill it, favoring your direction for a change instead of dictating their own. The thrill of new experiences leads you to people and places you’ll want to hold close. More highlights: a creative leap you’ll be proud of, an ever-deepening partnership, and a milestone that solidifies your progress with a concrete token. Pisces and Taurus adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 19, 4, 26, 30 and 15.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: HBO released the documentary “Tina” celebrating the monumental musical contributions and personal journey of Tina Turner, who rose from a troubled upbringing to global superstardom. “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” continues to be performed, and numerous artist including Beyonce, Adele and Ed Sheeran have paid tribute to the fiery Sagittarius who embodied her fire sign nature, lighting up stages with her swagger and unstoppable energy. Turner was born with natal Mercury and Venus in Sagittarius, and Mars and Jupiter in soulful Pisces.

Holiday Mathis’ debut novel, “How To Fail Epically in Hollywood,” is out now! This fast-paced romp about achieving Hollywood stardom is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit creatorspublishing.com for more information. Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

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Asking Eric: After brother’s death, sister-in-law won’t stop texting

Dear Eric: My spouse of 38 years died a year ago. He was 72, I’m now 72. He was a bit of a loner and had a strained relationship with his only sibling, his younger sister.

The last 10 years he had completely cut communication off with her. Honestly, the main reason was that he just didn’t want to be her friend. She’s a nice, helpful person, but he was who he was, and he did what he did.

When he died I reached out to her in a sisterly way and included her in the funeral service. She was delighted. She immediately bonded with me, calls me sister and started texting me several times a week.

This intimate connection with her is unwanted. I do not want to receive these almost daily texts. They come with great detail and photos of her everyday life. For the last few months, I have not responded to any texts, but the hint is ignored.

I have no idea how to stop this texting relationship without hurting her feelings. I need your advice on how best to end my texting relationship with her, and basically to keep our relationship at a comfortable distance.

– Personal Space

Dear Space: Establishing a new bond with your sister-in-law is a lovely, and loving, gesture. It may feel like you’re risking reopening old wounds by setting a texting boundary but think of it as the clear communication that is the lifeblood of every healthy relationship. Reach out via phone or in person and tell her that you are glad that you’re in each other’s lives and you appreciate her, but you’re not a texter and you’d love to find another way to catch up with each other.

She’s enthusiastic, and perhaps hungry to replace the relationship she didn’t have with your husband. There’s nothing wrong with that, per se, but if it doesn’t work for you, it’s neither unkind nor unfair to redirect.

Read more Asking Eric and other advice columns.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

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NFL Monday night: Derrick Henry’s TD streak ends but yards continue in Ravens’ victory

Baltimore running back Derrick Henry’s touchdown streak ended on Monday night, but the Ravens still defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 30-23 in a matchup of AFC playoff contenders.

Henry ran for 140 yards on 24 carries, but the former Alabama All-American failed to reach the end zone for the first time this season. Henry had scored at least one touchdown in each of Baltimore’s 11 games since he signed with the Ravens as a free agent in the offseason.

That was the fourth longest streak to start an NFL season behind 14 games by O.J. Simpson for the Buffalo Bills in 1975 and 12 games by John Riggins for the Washington Redskins in 1983 and Jerry Rice for the San Francisco 49ers in 1987.

The Ravens went 3-of-3 on fourth down, with Henry converting twice on a second-half drive with Baltimore holding a 17-16 lead. Henry ran for 27 yards on fourth-and-1 at the Ravens 39-yard line and 2 yards on fourth-and-1 at the Chargers 25 on the way to a touchdown.

In his 44th 100-yard game, Henry became the eighth player in NFL history with at least 20 regular-season games with 140 or more rushing yards. Barry Sanders has the most with 32, followed by Jim Brown with 29, Eric Dickerson with 26, Walter Payton and Adrian Peterson with 25 apiece, Emmitt Smith with 22 and LaDainian Tomlinson with 20.

Henry has run for 1,325 yards and 13 touchdowns on 223 carries this season.

After falling behind 10-0, the Ravens got touchdown runs of 10 yards by quarterback Lamar Jackson and 51 yards by running back Justice Hill bracketing TD passes by Jackson of 40 yards to wide receiver Rashod Bateman and 6 yards to tight end Mark Andrews.

In addition to Henry, six other players from Alabama high schools and colleges played in the Baltimore-Los Angeles game:

• Ravens cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (St. Paul’s Episcopal, Alabama) made one tackle and broke up one pass.
• Bradley Bozeman (Handley, Alabama) started at center for the Chargers.
• Ravens wide receiver Malik Cunningham (Park Crossing) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
• Ravens guard Darrian Dalcourt (Alabama) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
• Chargers defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe (Alabama) made one tackle.
• Chargers long snapper Josh Harris (Auburn) handled the snaps for four field goals, three field goals and two extra points.
• Marlon Humphrey (Hoover, Alabama) started at cornerback for the Ravens. Humphrey made three tackles, registered one quarterback hit and broke up one pass.
• Chargers offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood (Alabama) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
• Ravens nose tackle Michael Pierce (Daphne, Samford) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
• Chargers punter JK Scott (Alabama) averaged 41.3 yards on four punts. Scott had a 43-yard punt to a fair catch at the Baltimore 31-yard line, which moved to the 16 because of a penalty on the Ravens; a 45-yarder downed at the Baltimore 7, a 38-yarder out of bounds at the Baltimore 28 and a 39-yarder downed at the Baltimore 9.
• Chargers running back Kimani Vidal (Troy) was designated as a game-day inactive.

Safety A.J. Finley (St. Paul’s Episcopal) had played 43 defensive snaps and 170 special-teams plays in Los Angeles’ previous 10 games this season. But the former Mobile prep star was waived on Monday before the game to create a spot on the Chargers’ 53-man active roster for defensive back Deane Leonard, who came off injured reserve.

Los Angeles (7-4) plays the Atlanta Falcons at noon CST Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Baltimore (8-4) plays the Philadelphia Eagles at 3:25 p.m. Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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Man and woman not wearing seat belts killed when dump truck runs off Coosa County highway

A single-vehicle crash Monday in central Alabama left a man and woman dead.

Alabama State Troopers identified the victims as William Mathews, 65, and Annette R. Mathews, 64. Both lived in Sylacauga.

The wreck happened at 9 a.m. Monday on U.S. 280, about two miles west of Kellyton in Coosa County.

ALEA Lt. Jeremy Burkett said the pair was in a Ford F750 dump truck that overturned, left the roadway, and struck a guard rail before going down an embankment.

They were not using seat belts and were pronounced dead on the scene.

The investigation is ongoing.

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3 takeaways from Auburn men’s basketball’s 83-81 win over Iowa State

In their opening round game of the 2024 Maui Invitational, the Auburn Tigers made some history.

For the first time in school history, Auburn knocks off two top five teams in the same season. First it was Houston on Nov. 9, and the next notch in their belt is No. 5 Iowa State, winning 83-81.

Trailing the Cyclones by 16 points at halftime, the tigers stormed back in the second half sparked by 18 points from Chad Baker-Mazara and a team-high 21 points from Johni Broome, including the game-winning tip-in with seconds remaining.

Iowa State shot 47% from the floor as a team led by Keshon Gilbert’s 23 points.

Before facing the winner of North Carolina and Dayton in the Maui nightcap, here are three takeaways from Monday’s game:

Iowa State defense flusters Auburn early

Iowa State entered Monday night’s contest with one of the nation’s best defenses. That showed up once again by forcing seven on Auburn in the first half.

The Cyclones scored 11 points off of the Tigers turnovers and outscored them 14-3 on fastbreak points. Auburn shot 29% from 3-point range only hitting four in the first half.

Tahaad Pettiford and Broome combined for 20 points in the first half. However, Iowa State had five players with seven or more points going into the break.

Second half scoring heroics lead to victory

Auburn started the second half outscoring Iowa State 24-11 to cut its deficit to just one possession. The Tigers took their first lead in the game’s final four minutes on a pair of Denver Jones free throws.

Pettiford finished with 14 points off the bench. Jones and Miles Kelly came alive combined for 24 points after a slow start in the first half.

Ja’Heim Hudson returns to court, no Jahki Howard

After serving a three-game suspension for his role in the physical altercation during a team flight, Ja’Heim Hudson saw action against Iowa State.

Hudson played four minutes in the first half finishing with a rebound and an assist.

Jahki Howard who was also suspended, saw no playing time for the third straight game. He has not seen action since the season-opener.

Auburn plays the winner of North Carolina and Dayton on Tuesday at 10 p.m. on ESPN.

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Rutledge’s 4 picks secure Moody win over Wenonah in 1A/5A flag football semifinals

Moody scored to open each of the first two quarters and its defense did the rest as the Blue Devils held on for a 12-6 victory over defending champion Wenonah in Monday’s Class 1A/5A AHSAA flag football semifinal at Bill Morris Stadium.

“It was more of us knowing that to get to Protective Stadium, we had to beat the best,” Moody coach Wren Moore said after the home win. “That’s what we did.”

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Miami Dolphins waive former Alabama offensive lineman

When Isaiah Wynn sustained a quadriceps injury last season, Lester Cotton went into the Miami Dolphins’ starting lineup at left guard. On Monday, the Dolphins moved Wynn from the physically-unable-to-perform list to their 53-man active roster, making him eligible to play for the first time since Oct. 23, 2023.

To make a spot for Wynn on its active roster, Miami waived Cotton, the Dolphins announced on Monday.

After filling in for Wynn with eight starts at left guard in 2023, Cotton did not return to the starting lineup this season. He had played 60 offensive snaps in 2024, divided between two games entered after left guard Robert Jones got hurt.

Cotton also was on the field for 49 special-teams plays this season.

Cotton has been waived five previous times during his NFL career.

Cotton entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie with the Oakland Raiders after starting for two seasons at Alabama, including for the 2017 CFP national championship team. Cotton came to Alabama as a 2014 Parade All-American and an All-State selection at Central-Tuscaloosa.

Cotton played one special-teams snap as a rookie in 2019 and got on the field for 11 plays as a practice-squad callup in four games in 2021. In 2020, Cotton failed to make the regular-season roster coming out of the preseason and was not re-signed for the practice squad as he was in 2019 and 2021.

Cotton played 23 offensive snaps in the Raiders’ season-opening game in 2022, then made his first NFL start at right guard in the second contest. After that, Cotton’s action was limited to 40 special-teams plays in eight games before he went on injured reserve on Dec. 3 and was waived on Dec. 15.

Picked up by the Dolphins on Dec. 20, 2022, for their practice squad, Cotton was pressed into duty for a postgame start at left guard in Miami’s 34-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Last season, Cotton appeared in every game for Miami and played 616 offensive snaps.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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