KATHY MITCHELL AND MARCY SUGAR | Annie's Mailbox Thanks is given for a great first year

Dear Readers: One year ago today, Annie's Mailbox made its first appearance. Since then, we have worked hard to provide no-nonsense, practical advice, consulting experts when necessary, and offering names of self-help groups and organizations that can be of assistance.
We want to say thanks to each and every one of you for supporting our efforts and making our job worthwhile. Annie's Mailbox now appears in over 700 newspapers in the United States and Canada, and as far away as Japan, Guam and Venezuela. More than 2,000 pieces of mail pour in each day, from people of every age and income group, and a surprising majority of these letters are from men.
We appreciate it when you let us know what you think, even when you tell us off. You have given us quite an education, and we will do our best to continue on, as Ann Landers would say, "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable."
Several readers have written with some questions and comments about our column, and we thought this would be a good opportunity to respond:
Dear Annie: Are you still writing the column? I heard there's a new Ann Landers. Please don't quit. I love your column. Alabama
Dear Alabama: We are still writing and will do so as long as you will have us. There is no "new Ann Landers." No one could possibly take her place. However, the Chicago Tribune has hired a new advice columnist who will be writing her own column, in her own style. We wish her well.
Dear Annie: Will you please stop calling your readers "honey" or "dear"? You are obviously much too young to be using such terms in the column. I'd say, looking at your picture, that you are both around 30 years old. New York
Dear New York: Did your newspaper accidentally print a picture of the Olsen twins? Bless your heart for saying we look "around 30."
Dear Annie: Both of you are obviously Republican, Mormon lesbians. Texas
Dear Texas: We're not sure what to make of that. Um, thanks? Here's more:
From California: My newspaper prints your picture with the two of you side-by-side, and it looks like one head is growing out of the other's neck. Please fix it.
Indiana: Is Kathy wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Marcy on it?
Wisconsin: You two don't look as glamorous as Ann Landers. You ought to fix your hair and makeup, and wear nicer clothes.
Dear Annie: I am a 31-year-old man who had surgery on a calcified brain tumor 19 years ago. How do I explain my abnormal appearance to my 6-year-old nephew, now that he's old enough to ask? I don't want to confuse him by saying I have a broken brain. No Trauma in Washington, D.C.
Dear D.C.: Tell him a simplified version of the truth -- that a long time ago, you were sick and the doctors had to perform surgery on your head. Stress that you are OK now, and if he has any questions or worries, he should just ask.
Dear Annie: I recently sent a gift to a friend's daughter. I spent considerable time choosing what I thought would be appropriate, so I was somewhat taken aback when I received a generic, computer-printed "thank you for the gift."
Am I hopelessly old-fashioned in thinking a handwritten note mentioning the specific gift should have been sent? Slightly Slighted
Dear Slighted: A handwritten note acknowledging the specific gift is indeed the proper way to say thank you. However, these days, any note at all is a bonus, so let's not quibble.
XE-mail your questions to anniesmailbox@com-cast.net, or write to: Annie's Mailbox, P.O. Box 118190, Chicago, Ill. 60611.
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