Dear Abby: Longtime roomie flexes his mean streak

Dear Abby I have a roommate Don I have lived with for years At first we were dating but we broke up and Don moved out for a year We remained friends and he moved back in to help me with rent and because he missed the cat Our relationship has been strictly platonic for the last seven years What drives me nuts is when we get in a fight he never fails to bring up my son call him filthy names and tell me he is worthless This started a year ago My son doesn t know Don does this My son borrowed money from me once after his dad died three years ago but he has paid it all back He had chosen trouble with his business in the past few days that Don read about on selected Yelp reviews He knows how much I love my son and that I would do anything for him I suspect Don may be jealous which is why he wants to hurt me My son is and Don never sees him My son sees me only every couple of months Don s attacks on my son are cruel and have nothing to do with our arguments Sometimes Don apologizes and says he won t do it again but he invariably does It tears my heart out I can t decide what to do Wounded in Washington Dear Wounded So Don has a mean streak and doesn t fight fair The next time he drags your son into one of your disagreements in order to hurt you your response should be That s it GET OUT Get out of here this minute If he is shocked tell him that because the rent is more than you can swing alone you have decided to downsize to something you can afford without him If he promises not to do it again remind him you have heard that before and you don t plan on tolerating it again Is his rental assistance worth the verbal abuse Not in my book Dear Abby I have a strained relationship with my sister There has dependably been a lot of drama surrounding her Over the years she has invariably played the victim We talk only if one of my parents is having a physical condition issue At present my sister is in the middle of a contentious divorce It has been going on for two years and she s taking her victimhood to the next level She s posting on social media about all kinds of things she alleges my brother-in-law has done to her My wife and I have chosen to stay out of it We have watched them treat each other badly over the years My daughter is now graduating She d like to invite her aunt and uncle to her graduation party What s the right thing to do I would prefer not to invite either of them I do not want drama at that party Grad s Dad in Indiana Dear Dad Explain to your daughter that because her aunt and uncle are at each other s throats as their divorce drags on you are worried they will disrupt the happy occasion and ruin it for HER which is why you feel it would be a huge mistake for her to invite them Then cross your fingers and hope she sees the wisdom Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren also known as Jeanne Phillips and was founded by her mother Pauline Phillips Contact Dear Abby at www DearAbby com or P O Box Los Angeles CA