One of 3 stickies notes will not let a newly opened app appear in foreground

I don't think I can explain this well in words. A screenshot would be better, but here goes.

I have used stickies for over 25 years and this problem is a recent occurrence. When I open stickies, 3 notes open side-by-side on my macbook air. In the past, my clicking on a browser icon in the dock has ALWAYS opened the browser in the FOREGROUND, leaving the 3 stickies notes in the background.

For about 3 months, that has changed. With the 3 stickies notes open, my clicking on a browser icon in the dock opens the browser, BUT one of the stickies notes covers a section of the browser while the remaining 2 notes "move" to the background.

I have no idea if I should reformat, reinstall stickies or what. And I don't even know how to do those things.

This is NOT the biggest problem in my life. It is a minor, recurring annoyance. All I want to accomplish is what I wrote in ¶2.

Thank you.