Bridesmaid contemplates dropping out

DEAR HARRIETTE: What do you do if you’re a bridesmaid, but the wedding expenses are mounting? This is my best friend’s wedding, and I’d hate to miss out, but some of these things are too demanding: engagement party, bridal shower, bachelorette party, dress, hair, makeup, alterations and more. The list of events and expenses just keeps growing. Should I bring this up to the bride, or politely bow out? – Bridesmaid Duties DEAR BRIDESMAID DUTIES:

Elizabeth Ko, M.D.

Dear Doctors: I saw where a doctor wrote a book about what happened to his skin when he stopped bathing for a few years. He said our skin has a microbiome, and he wanted to learn more about it. Is that the same thing as the gut microbiome? What does taking a bath have to do with it?

Democrats are learning: It’s not 2017

Recently, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, raised the prospect of impeaching President Donald Trump over the Justice Department’s decision to withdraw the indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The Trump administration is engaged in “an attack on the Department of Justice for engaging in corruption prosecutions,” Raskin told CBS. Such behavior “could be impeachable in a different political environment.”

Thinking about my non-blond hair

Isaw a photo of an author I admire recently, and she had no hair. I worried she was ill, so I immediately investigated. She was not ill. She had cut off all her hair and had done it for good reasons, she said. She had done a lot of thinking about her hair – a lot more than I had.

This is worse than the event on Jan. 6

President Trump’s current assault on the basic structure of democracy represents a far more serious threat than the occupation of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Returning friend expected warmer welcome

DEAR HARRIETTE: I just moved back to my hometown. After college, I moved to Georgia to teach. I didn’t really know anyone there. I had a few estranged cousins I rekindled with, and I made friends with some of my co-workers, but that was about it. I lived in Georgia for three years before the loneliness started weighing on me, so I decided to move back home to Florida. Lucky for me, a few of my college friends had moved there post-grad, so the decision to move home felt easy for me. Now that I’m home, though, it’s nothing like what I expected.

Elizabeth Ko, M.D.

Hello, dear readers, and welcome to our monthly letters column. We are deep into flu season. After a quick glance at the latest data – up to 22 million infections, 10 million medical visits and at least 160,000 hospitalizations – we are once again urging our readers to take all precautions, including getting this year’s flu shot.

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