Dear Abby advises a woman whose insensitive husband makes fun of her family.
My husband and I have been married a long time. Our relationship is stable but rocky. I have suffered from depression since childhood, and I am now trying to manage it. My husband has his own issues. One of them is that he often brings up something he finds “amusing” about my parents. For example, he mocks my dad and the home I grew up in because it wasn’t fancy. This is hurtful.
I don’t appreciate my husband bringing up Dad’s quirks to belittle him. When I say I don’t appreciate it, he starts yelling and telling me that he’s not trying to hurt me and that I shouldn’t take it that way. Then he goes off and sulks and won’t speak to me for the rest of the day.
His behavior is getting old. It ruins things between us. If you tell someone that what they say is hurtful, but they discount it, what then? Things he may think are funny are not always funny to me. Any advice? — NO JOKE IN OHIO
DEAR NO JOKE: Your husband certainly has a cruel streak.
