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Group Therapy: ‘I’ve been married 2 months. And feel no passion for my husband.’
By ANONYMOUS My husband and I hit it off from the first moment we met (at work). We were finishing each others sentences in a weird mind-reading way after knowing each other only one day. He was married but separated when we met and while that hasn’t caused a single problem [read more]
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“The night Mum died was both surreal and yet, perfectly expected.”
By BERN MORLEY The night Mum died was both surreal and yet, perfectly expected. I’m not really sure that can make sense unless you’ve watched someone actually stop being right there in front of you. It’s both terrifying and also, an unbelievable privilege. My Mum died of cancer. It took hold of her suddenly, savagely and [read more]
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Dear couples: Please, never ask this question.
By KIMBERLEY GURR Whenever I run into old friends, family members or associates I haven’t seen in a certain amount of time, we both obviously have a keen interest to know what the other has been up to. My queries are of a general nature; I like to give them the opportunity to [read more]
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‘This is the thing my engagement nightmares are made of.’
By NATALIA JASTRZAB You might remember the scene from the first Sex & the City movie. Carrie and Big are sitting in the kitchen. Big is chopping vegetables, and then marriage somehow comes up in conversation. “Do you want to get married?” Carrie asks. “I wouldn’t mind being married to you,” [read more]
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MIA: ‘I’m surrounded by people who are breaking up. And I’m confused.’
By MIA FREEDMAN I’m surrounded by people who are breaking up. They are sad and I am confused because their relationships aren’t bad. I don’t even mean they’re kind of tolerable. Their relationships are actually great. They are deeply in love with their partners who are deeply in love with them. [read more]
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The complaint that is sending online wedding forums a little nutty.
By GRACE JENNINGS-EDQUIST “My man is a wonderful guy but I hate my engagement ring! It is horrible!!! Everything I said I didn’t want, he did! I wanted square, he bought round. I wanted antique, he bought me modern! I begged for cheap, he went to Tiffany’s! I HATE TIFFANY’S!” …And [read more]
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If your partner gave you this – would you sign it?
By NATALIA JASTRZAB Introducing the most romantic thing that will ever happen to you and your significant other: relationship contracts. It’s like a prenuptial agreement, only you don’t have to be getting married. Oh, and it’s much less to do with money/assets/property and much more to do with things like who takes [read more]
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‘He stole my special thing. He stole my identity. And he was my brother…’
by JAMES AITKEN I’ll never forget the day I listened in on a conversation I heard my elder brother having with my mum during which he uttered the words: “mum, I am gay”. I’ll never forget because I felt my world fall apart around me in an instant. I couldn’t believe [read more]
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One woman’s aim in life: “Making breast cancer history for my daughter; all daughters.”
Lisa Sewards’ aim in life? “… is to contribute to making breast cancer history for my daughter; all daughters.” One in nine Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer before they reach the age of 85. And Lisa Sewards was one of them. Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer when she [read more]
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The families of addicts live in desperate, anxious fear that this might happen.
By HAYLEY PEARSON Today my brother would have turned 36. But instead of having a family dinner and celebrating over birthday cake, I am going with my parents to Encounter Bay to his special part of the beach, where his ashes lie. Sixteen months on and I still can’t believe I’ve lost [read more]
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EM: ‘It’s a strange place I inhabit. Slightly lonely but far less anxious.’
By EM RUSCIANO Hello friends. I have a question, it’s simple enough and one I’m sure most of you have had to find an answer to at some point in your adult lives. What am I to do with the emotional and physical mementos of my recently failed relationship? We’re talking 13 years [read more]
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The new wedding cost-cutting measure that has guests boycotting the event.
By GRACE JENNINGS-EDQUIST Remember that time when sending your wedding invites was free? And easy? And everyone RSVP-ed instantaneously, so you could immediately resume Vera Wang gown-googling? Yeah, not so much. Because since the dawn of time, couples have been expected to spend the equivalent of a uni student’s first [read more]
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Group Therapy: “It was never hard to talk about anything – until we had to talk about this”
By ANONYMOUS My partner and I have been together for 5 years. It was never hard to talk about anything – until we had to talk about this. K is older than me, but it has never been an issue for us. I love the way that she is so organised [read more]
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This bloke wrote an article about ‘what men want’. The angry responses nearly broke the internet.
When this piece was originally published at The Good Men Project, it received hundreds of comments and was shared by thousands. But the reaction was not all positive. One writer even described Adam Sheck’s post as a “nutty nutbag piece of nutbaggery.” by DR. ADAM SHECK It’s really not that complicated. From [read more]
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Reader Story: “Six days ago my husband left me. Our baby is due in May.”
By ANONYMOUS Where do I start… It’s 5:39am on Saturday 26th April 2013 and I am experiencing my son’s “first sleepover” with his Daddy. He is now a statistic. A kid from a broken home. He doesn’t seem to understand it yet, but the mother in me makes my heart break for [read more]
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She was diagnosed with cancer. This is what her husband did next.
By KAHLA PRESTON We all know someone who has been affected by cancer. Yet very rarely do we witness the stark day-to-day experiences of life after the diagnosis. Jennifer Merendino was diagnosed with breast cancer less than six months after marrying her boyfriend, Angelo, in 2007. She endured numerous treatments and [read more]
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How do you find a partner when 99% of the population are a no-go?
By ZEYNAB GAMIELDIEN The cute guy sitting next to you in your tutorial? Off-limits. The guy in the cubicle next to yours with the cool ergonomic lunchbox? Not an option. No parties, no clubs, no bars, no alcohol. Is this sounding impossible to you yet? Well, this is the reality of being a [read more]
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‘I miss you mum. I want you here on this earth with me so badly.’
by LOUISE ALICANDRO Goodbye mum, I’ll always love you… Wishing I had said those exact words to her. My therapist told me gently that my mum wouldn’t survive and to say those words to her before she went. And I wish I had. As a young adult in my late 20’s [read more]
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Would you go this far for your dream engagement ring?
By NATALIA JASTRZAB I have this trick I use sometimes at parties when I get stuck talking to… how do I put this diplomatically… the person nobody else wants to talk to. Just when they’re sounding off about the diarrhea they’ve had for days, or the holiday they took to Zimbabwe five years ago, I [read more]
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We bring you penises, Goldilocks and science – all packaged up into one post.
By ROB BROOKS How important is penis size? Authors from the Australian National University, Monash and La Trobe provide the most complete answer yet: the size of a flaccid penis can significantly affect how attractive a man’s body is to women. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (a journal commonly known [read more]
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Introducing Fundawear. It’s like underwear, but fun.
Technology has done wonders for long distance relationships. With sexting and Skype, it’s hard to imagine how two lovers ever managed to make it work before the Internet. But, you see, that’s sort of the problem. It doesn’t work. Because while you can spend hours upon hours chatting to your [read more]
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It’s called ‘Sifjaspellsspillir’. And if you have a big family, you might just need it in your life.
By NATALIA JASTRZAB You know what sucks? When you go to work, or university, or a bar, and you meet someone amazing with great hair and a fantastic smile. You talk to this amazing person and you really get along. You think maybe… the two of you could get it on [read more]
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’10 living-together lessons I’ve learned the hard way.’
by ASHE DAVENPORT After a false start in ‘11 my boyfriend and I have settled back into de facto bliss…. Two bedrooms, a tomato vine with actual tomatoes growing on it, parking permit, a motley crew of 30 hand me down towels (thanks mum) and enough cupboard space to store the entire [read more]
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My adoption story: “It’s okay mum. I turned out good, I’m happy and you have three grandkids.”
By ANGIE MADDISON All we knew of my birth mother was typed on a small sheet of paper: Dutch Australian; blue eyes; 5’’3; fair complexion; 18 years old; Catholic. Her age and religion coupled with the time into which I was born leave no doubt as to why she did not, [read more]
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A beautiful story of the mother who refused to give up hope.
By MELISSA WELLHAM It was winter in 1999. Helen Sage was having a tough week. Her 22-year-old daughter, Sarah, had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease – a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines – and had just had surgery. She was worried about Sarah, and focused on looking after her. But [read more]
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CHEERS: Hey ladies. Apparently your boozing is ruining your relationship.
By NICKY CHAMP Are you married? If so, you might want to put down the Merlot because your loose drinking ways are ruining your relationship [insert sarcasm]. Amanda McAlister, the head of family law at Slater & Gordon, has claimed a growing number of men are filing for divorce as a result of their wives’ [read more]
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‘Hey sorry for the late reply but, um, I’m not a guy’
By SAMUEL LEIGHTON-DORE Have you ever received a text message so surprising that you had to read it out loud– and then call a friend in the middle of the night – and then write an article about it? I have. Let me explain… I naively agreed to be the sole photographer [read more]
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SHARE: Your favourite moment ever with your mum
By NATALIA JASTRZAB Want to know a secret? I like to act all tough and independent, but really – the first thing I do when anything goes wrong is run to my mum. It’s fortunate that I live with her, because this makes it quite straightforward to complain to her whenever I see [read more]
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My 5 hassle-free years of messy sex.
By ZOE ADLER BISHOP I was terrible at contraception when I was young. Child #1 was conceived with the ‘don’t worry I think I’m infertile’ method. Child #2 the ‘using condoms but not properly’ way. Both kids were much wanted and loved, but when I ended up in a new [read more]
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Most new mothers wait six weeks after child birth before they do this.
By NICKY CHAMP Sleepless nights, postpartum bleeding, leaky nipples, pooey nappies, it’s not exactly the stuff made of foreplay but a survey has found that nearly half of new mothers wait just six weeks to have sex again after giving birth. The study of 1507 first-time mothers, conducted by the Murdoch Childrens Research [read more]