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Thanks for all the wonderful years of FBorFW, you have made it possible for me to be part of the Patterson family for years. It is the only strip that has included the natural aging process and all the love and sorrow that comes with the territory. To me that has been the main reason I have read your strip for years. I guess the format will change once you retire,but it will be a wonderful strip to follow. Have a happy and healthy retirement.

Donna

I have been reading your comic for most of my life. It is the first thing I read and I'm always amazed at how true to life it is. My parents were like Elly and John. Happy in their own way and best of friends. Their family has the trials and tribulations of families everywhere.

No column touched me as much as the one where Farley saved April. Giving up something you love for better things is always hard. Giving up your comic and the Pattersons will be extremely hard and sad, but I wish you the best of luck with your retirement.

Barbara T, Avon NY

Thank you, Lynn, for creating such memorable characters. I have been a daily reader for half my life. Reading FBorFW is like a visit with the family we all wish lived next door. Whatever happens with Anthony and Elizabeth will be part of the vision you have for their future. There's nothing at all wrong with living happily ever after. I think we'd all like to!

Tim J, Oklahoma USA

As an avid (okay, addicted) reader of FBorFW, I am the first to tear apart the newspaper in the morning, so that I can get my daily dose. I have been especially excited lately, as I await anxiously the development of Anthony and Liz's reunion. I am so happy that they have once again discovered what has been there all along! I must also say that to me, all the FBorFW characters are like family, so close do I feel from all these years of readership. As I have followed their adventures, ranging from the birth of Liz to the birth of Robin, I am constantly amazed at how much their stories parallel my own life. I am going to be sad when Lynn retires for good, but she has put all of her heart and soul into it the strip for so many years, it is time for a well-deserved break. =)

Alexandra, Calgary

Just to say thanks for the years of holding up a mirror to our lives and allowing us to gain inspiration and courage as we live with the Patterson family. They tackle the issues that we all face from time to time: child abuse, parenting, career changes, aging parents, people with disabilities, single parenting, homosexuality, and many others. As serious as these are, you have helped us through it with a smile while making us evaluate our own responses.
This group of characters will live forever in my heart right next door to Snoopy and the Peanuts gang.
P.S. count me as a Liz & Anthony fan. There is a wealth of family issue material in this match up.

Beth, Tupolo Mississippi

Dear Lynn - Our family have laughed and cried with you over the past 30 wonderful years. My two sons went through their teen years with Michael and Elizabeth so there was always laughter at the comparisons, as there were also with Farley, etc and the various "issues" with you and John, eg snoring, travelling together, John's trains, menopause, and so many more - many thanks for a wonderful life journey.

Edythe S, Melbourne, Australia

Thank-you Lynne for over 16 years of reading pleasure. My eldest child was born the month after April so I felt I shared my first pregnancy with Elly's last. I have a diary with my cut-outs of April's happenings that corresponded to what was happening with my own child- It seemed for a while that our lives were parralel. There is so much to reflect on in your three or four small squares. They are snapshots that reflect so many of our lives, perhaps that is why they arouse such strong opinions, particularly recently with Elizabeth and Anthony. While the comment about them only being cartoon characters is accurate it does not take into account how "real" the Pattersons seem. It's what makes us laugh, cry, shout and nod with empathy. We can recognise and relate our selves and our friends and our families. From down under we are all remarkably similar! Again, thank-you!

Liz T, Melbourne, Australia

I just wanted to thank Lynn for her wonderful series on Shannon Lake. Our 1-year old daughter was just diagnosed with epilepsy. She will face many of the same challenges, and lack of knowledge, that Shannon's classmates demonstrated about her condition. Unfortunately, people fear the unknown, and react the way Lynn depicted.

I hope I can show our daughter the series of strips when the time comes, and let her know she can handle the discussion of her epilepsy with her classmates in a very positive way (and stand up for herself as well).

Jennifer C, Warwick RI

Thank you for your wonderful comic strip that I have enjoyed for about ten years now. It is the first thing I read when I open my daily newspaper. I can relate to so much as your strip is very realistic, everything from Farley's death (I lost a couple of pets also in bad circumstances) to Grandpa's stroke (my own grandpa died from a stroke) to Elizabeth's romantic rollercoaster (too much like my own life!). I heard a rumor earlier that you would retire this strip, but now I heard you are just cutting back and will now fefature some old panels. Thank you for bringing us your wonderful strip and please do not ever completely retire it!!

Michele, Indianapolis, Indiana

Lynn, your strip has been a part of my life since 1985. When my daughter was born in 1986, some of your cartoons were pasted into her baby book. As we traveled around as a military family, other military spouses agreed with me- we probably knew the Pattersons better than our friends that came and went with assignments.
Along the way, I met a dear friend, Denise, who loved the strip as much as I did. When the Air Force took her to Texas, she didn't have access to FBOFW and so I mailed her clippings so she could watch her newborn little boy grow along with April, the two having been born a week apart.

Denise returned the favor when we were stationed in Colorado Springs and the newspaper refused to run Lawrence's story. How much I looked forward to reading the "forbidden" strips and how sad to discover that a very human, touching story was banned by the local publisher.
Lynn, thank you for developing the Pattersons and their friends into very real people for us to enjoy.

Nina B, Tucson Arizona