Dear Abby: My father’s death makes me hate my stepmother all the more

DEAR ABBY: My brothers and I loved our father. He was an alcoholic until he was 37. After he stopped drinking, we became the best of friends. He was both mother and father to me, and I was so proud of him.

Dad remarried 33 years later to a woman I can only describe as diabolical. At first, “Selma” was full of compliments and smiles toward us. After they married, my father’s glow and his relationships with us turned cold and clinical. He could call us only from his car when he was alone. Holiday celebrations stopped, and Sunday family dinners stopped, too.