DEAR ABBY: I always knew high blood pressure ran in my family, but I never realized it could cause kidney disease. Then I attended one of the National Kidney Foundation's free kidney health screenings and was shocked to learn that my lab results showed a decline in my kidney function. Because I felt healthy, I hadn't worried about my "borderline" hypertension. Turns out, my kidneys were silently being damaged.

I have since made lifestyle changes to control my blood pressure and prevent further damage. These include daily exercise and cutting back on salt, sweets and fast food.

Kidney disease and its leading causes -- high blood pressure and diabetes -- run in families, and one in three American adults are at risk. Many people don't realize that early detection can make a critical difference, protecting the kidneys and preventing damage.

March is National Kidney Month, and March 14 is World Kidney Day. The National Kidney Foundation is urging Americans to learn their risk factors for kidney disease and to get their kidneys checked with a simple urine and blood test. They will offer more advice on protecting these vital organs and staying healthy. For a schedule of free kidney health screenings across the country, not only during March but throughout the year, visit the National Kidney Foundation website at kidney.org. -- JEFF CARTER, BUFFALO, N.Y.

DEAR JEFF: I'm glad you wrote because I was taken aback to learn that more than 26 million American adults and thousands of children have chronic kidney disease.

Readers, it's important to be checked because millions of people with diabetes, hypertension and other diseases do not realize they're at risk for developing kidney disease. Could this include you or someone you love?

DEAR ABBY: I married into a shopaholic family. My husband and I live in a small home with our two young daughters. My biggest problem is my mother-in-law. She has only two interests: eating and shopping. Good manners dictate that I graciously accept all her gifts, but I am sick to my stomach over the gross excess.

I think she has an addiction. She has stolen from me the joy of buying baby clothes for my children. My Christmas tree is decked with all the ornaments from my husband's youth, and a massive dusty doll collection is coming our way.

Although my husband himself struggles with buying and collecting stuff, he agrees with me that less is better for our family. I would like to keep things simple, but it's impossible with my in-laws. -- OVERLOADED IN MINNESOTA

DEAR OVERLOADED: People make purchases beyond that which is needed for various reasons. Sometimes it's an attempt to buy love. Other times it can be to ease anxiety or depression.

If you don't draw the line and make your wishes clear, your mother-in-law will not stop what she's doing. Explain that you are grateful for her generosity, but your house is full and therefore one or two gifts per child is all you will accept. Period.

Leave some of the Christmas decorations in storage next December so there will be room on your tree for some of your own. And when the doll collection is delivered, if your girls can't use it, consider selling or donating it.

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married for 30 years and will be visiting my mother-in-law again soon. Even though he is 50, she is obsessed with dressing him. As soon as we arrive, she searches through our luggage and announces that his clothes are not "good enough." Then she wants to put her son in her dead husband's clothes. She always threatens that she will have a fit if he won't wear the clothes she chooses. What should I do? -- BAGGAGE CHECK IN MONTANA

DEAR BAGGAGE CHECK: Your mother-in-law may still be in deep mourning for her husband. If your husband bears a strong resemblance to his father, it's possible that seeing him in those clothes in some way brings her husband back to her.

Frankly, her behavior is quite bizarre -- including the threatened tantrum if she doesn't get her way. (Could she be losing it?) When the subject comes up again, as it will when you arrive, you and your husband should stand your ground and let her throw her fit. It might be the beginning of some healing.

DEAR ABBY: About a year ago my sisters, a daughter and several nieces and nephews decided to get the word "family," in my mother's handwriting, tattooed on their bodies to memorialize her. I didn't do it because Mom didn't like tattoos and would not have approved of anyone getting one for any reason. I do a number of other things in her memory.

Should I feel guilty for not joining them in their endeavor to remember Mom, or is it OK to remember her in a way she would approve of? -- NO TATS FOR ME

DEAR NO TATS: The process of mourning is an individual one. There is no requirement that families do it "en masse." If you prefer to memorialize your mother in your own way, then do it and don't feel guilty about it. However, because your relatives chose to do something else in the spirit of family harmony -- which your mother would not approve of -- be careful not to criticize the path they took.

DEAR ABBY: My son's fourth-grade teacher can't spell. I have noticed at least a half-dozen errors not only in the handwritten notes she sends home, but also in assignment work! How should I handle this? -- ANONYMOUS IN PITTSBURGH

DEAR ANONYMOUS: Save the notes and assignment work with the misspellings and share them with the school principal. And if the problem continues, go to the school board about the problem teacher.

DEAR ABBY: I am a 14-year-old female from the West Coast. I am home-schooled and don't have many friends because I score high in tests, meaning I retain more information than the average person.

On the rare occasion that I mingle with children my own age, they call me unpleasant names, play pranks on me and otherwise torture me. I had to change my emergency cellphone number and start using my sister's because there have been so many immature and insulting prank calls.

I hate it. I can't help that I am smart, and I refuse to degrade myself by dumbing down my actions and speech because they can't handle their insecurities. -- HIGH IQ

DEAR HIGH IQ: Being "different" isn't easy, and clearly you are very intelligent. But you and your parents should understand that crank calls are not "pranks" -- they are a form of bullying and should have been reported when they happened.

Most parents who home-school also network with other home-schooling parents so their children can socialize with peers. If your parents haven't done this, I recommend you discuss it with them. You might also meet more intellectually advanced young people if you joined special-interest groups for older students.

Your high IQ might be less threatening to the students who have given you trouble if you volunteer to tutor some of them who need help with their schoolwork. (Just don't fall into the trap of doing it for them.)

DEAR ABBY: I have been with my boyfriend, "Dan," for almost five years. He's wonderful and we have a great relationship. We have talked about spending our lives together, but had mutually agreed in the beginning that marriage wasn't a priority for either of us. He has said for years that he never wanted to marry -- which is fine with me.

I now suspect that he's planning to propose to me on our fifth anniversary. (He has never been great at hiding surprises.)

I'm thrilled that he wants to make that kind of commitment, and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with him, but the thought of marriage scares me. I don't know if it's nerves about the pending proposal or that I have never planned on marriage and now I have to think about all the stress and strife that comes with planning a wedding.

I want to say yes, but I love the way things are right now, and I know that marriage will change things. What, if anything, do I say to him? -- COLD FEET? IN SALT LAKE CITY

DEAR COLD FEET?: I wish you had mentioned why you think being married to Dan would "change things." If you've been happy together for five years, it's unlikely that making a formal commitment would damage the special relationship you have together.

Perhaps this is "old school," but I feel that if couples plan to bring children into the world, they should be married. Because you want nothing more than to spend the rest of your life with Dan, and are concerned about the stress of planning a wedding, when he pops the question, I suggest you say, "Yes -- why don't we elope?"