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DEAR ABBY: My sisters and I grew up in a horrible household with our mother. She was not only OK with the severe abuse and neglect we suffered, she encouraged it. Now grown up, my sisters have moved out of state and have no contact with her. My contact with Mom is limited although I live close to her. My sisters want her to know nothing about them, and they are very cautious.

Nathaniel Batey: Nathaniel Batey, Troop 709, was honored at his Eagle Scout Court of Honor March 4. For his project, he refurbished Live Oak High School's six water polo cages and meter markers. He would like to thank his family, fellow Live Oak water polo players, coach, scouts and leaders of Troop 709 who helped him complete this project and attain this award.

In the early ’60s, a theme park developer from Southern California purchased swamp land in central Florida. The dream: an East Coast vacation destination, a playground in a warm area that can provide amusement for the masses year-round.

At 36, Kristy Litz has watched most of her girlfriends marry and alight to the suburbs to start families. But marriage is nowhere on Litz's agenda. She wants children, and ideally a partner, but she has seen enough people divorce that she doesn't see the point of walking down the aisle.

A horror movie that works shrugs off opinions and snobbery and eschews complexity. You know it works when the hairs on the back of your neck rise. It’s a visceral reaction you can’t control. “Silent House” was finished as Elizabeth Olsen was revealing herself as the Olsen sibling with big-screen charisma. She’s the “girl in jeopardy” in this thriller, set in a family’s old house they’re about to sell. A girl, suddenly alone in a dark house in the middle of nowhere. Dad (Adam Trese) was there. But he went upstairs and disappeared. Uncle Peter (Eric Sheffer Stevens) took off with the only car. There’s no power, no phone. And someone, or something, is plainly in the house with her. Lanterns and flashlights illuminate the spooky rooms. The field of vision is limited to what Sarah can see right in front of her, never more than when she must use a Polaroid flash to illuminate a pitch-black room. Music and sound effects are used sparingly, Sarah’s screams are kept to a minimum. The filmmakers give away where they’re going with this too easily – what are the men not telling her? – and test the patience of the “Don’t go in there!” crowd by making Sarah passive and her actions seemingly illogical. But those aren’t fatal failings for a movie whose terror can be read in every silent scream on Olsen’s face. Sarah hides under beds. The “intruder” – whose face we never see – seems to lose interest. Sarah doesn’t scream. She doesn’t pick up anything to defend herself. Olsen is not playing a Jamie Leigh Curtis (“Halloween”) variation, here. She plays Sarah as paralyzed, with paroxysms of fear that have her stifling screams, gulping because she keeps forgetting to breathe.

Sweetie Pie is a 6-year-old petite sized cat. She loves to be pet and is very sweet and curious. She has been at the San Martin Animal Shelter since late January and is looking for a loving home. If you are interested in adopting this or any other animal at the shelter, please call (408) 686-3900.