DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is it appropriate to have a girlfriend or boyfriend stand in the reception line at a funeral? I'm an only child and do not want to stand in line alone.
GENTLE READER: While willing fiancees (and fiances) are welcome, in the absence of current or prospective relatives, Miss Manners permits the presence of someone who is bound to be taken as such. You likely can't prevent that, no matter how carefully you observe the polite fiction that he or she is "a close family friend" of you and the deceased.
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)