Speed forward a few years and imagine it’s your baby in this situation, says Mariella

The dilemma I feel awful saying this, but I’m holding loads of resentment towards my young stepson. I met his father when the boy was only two. For years we’ve all had a great relationship, but recently I gave birth to our baby, and I found I was becoming less tolerant of his son throughout my pregnancy and started to dread him staying with us. My partner is unaware of this, as I hide it very well – I’m sure this is my issue. But I found I was at breaking point today. We’re in the last days of my partner’s paternity leave and his ex rang to say his son wasn’t well and asked if we could look after him.

I cried for an hour (again hidden from my partner) as this time is so special. There seems to be nothing wrong with the boy and I believe she just couldn’t be bothered to take him to school when she knew we were at home.

Peter Taylor, 73, and Mary Moogk, 72, met in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, in 1976. They live in Oshawa, Ontario

Peter Taylor moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a historic town in Ontario’s wine country, in 1975. “I joined a yachting company and started work building sailboats.”

The following February, his mother introduced him to an old family friend, who had a daughter about his age. “Our fathers had met in the forces,” he says. “I didn’t know Mary at the time.” Afterwards, he was invited to their family home for dinner.

Your partner is not prioritising you, but now is the time for understanding, says Mariella Frostrup, and to focus on your own life and mental health

The dilemma My partner and I have been separated by Covid for many weeks. I am living in our home, while he has moved out and is looking after his disabled adult daughter. The agreement was that when his daughter went back to her mother, he would return home.

However, the date seems ever-changing. Last week, this week and now next week. This is all down to his high anxiety regarding Covid. First, he delayed coming home because my son, who had recently had the virus, came for the weekend. He then delayed again because my son had met a friend so there could be infection on surfaces in the home for 28 days.

Brooks Almy, 70 and Maurizio Papalia, 67, met on a cruise ship in the 70s. After years apart, they reunited in 2008 and now live with their dog and cat in Italy

Brooks Almy joined a cruise ship in 1977 to work in theatre. She was introduced to Maurizio Papalia, an Italian nurse who had also taken a job onboard. “We had a really nice connection straight away,” she says. They spent the next four months as a couple, sailing around Mexico and the Caribbean. When Brooks’s contract came to an end, they tried to make it work. “I came back to shore every few weeks,” says Maurizio. “But two months later I had to go back to Italy. We were both upset, but decided to keep in touch.” Without email or affordable travel, it became difficult, so they agreed to start dating other people.

In 1978, Maurizio married an English woman and had a child, but by 1984 their relationship was over. By that time, Brooks had moved to New York to pursue a career on Broadway. “I went to see her and the connection was still there,” says Maurizio. The pair started dating again, but their happiness was short-lived. “I was a very heavy drinker at the time,” says Brooks. “I’ve been in addiction recovery for 35 years, but at the time I was crashing hard. I went to meet Maurizio in Italy in 1985, but I was in an extremely fragile state.”