DEAR HARRIETTE: It's somewhat frightening how many people I know who are having serious medical issues. I arrived at an off-site job earlier this week only to learn that a woman I hadn't seen for a few months had been away due to open-heart surgery following a heart attack. A male friend of mine is recovering from a stroke. Yet another guy I haven't seen for several years just told me he had had a heart attack a few months back. OMG! Two of these people appeared to be the picture of health.

Starting his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden congratulated two top Republicans, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He also thanked Republican lawmakers who had backed his infrastructure bill last year and struck a note of optimism: “Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last two years.”

DEAR HARRIETTE: Every time I see a particular woman in my wife's friend group, she looks at me, says hello and asks my name. I want to say that I have been in her company for a good 15 years — though not closely. We do go to the same parties every year and share many of the same friends and associates. I find it baffling that this woman doesn't ever recognize me. I see her anywhere from five to 10 times a year.

My mother has a pet squirrel named Stubby.