Advice Column Addresses Family Text Strife and Workplace Romance

An advice columnist responded to two readers this week who described how personal relationships have been strained by a contentious family group text and by a potential romance at work, offering practical cautions about reconciliation and workplace dynamics. One correspondent, who identified himself as living in Illinois, said his sister severed ties with their mother's side of the family after an uncle posted a controversial comment in the family group text and the conversation continued despite her request that it stop. The man and his wife recently bought a house and invited both sides of the family to a housewarming; his sister declined to attend and remains unwilling to have contact with his mother's relatives.

The columnist said the sister's withdrawal appeared to be a response to comments she found deeply offensive and that repair would require at least one party to make a concession. "Is this fixable? Only if one of them is willing to give," the columnist wrote, and recommended that the correspondent be prepared to host family events without his sister if reconciliation does not occur.

In a separate letter, a man in his mid 50s described becoming romantically interested...