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A few readers have mentioned Paul in their anti ELizabeth/Anthony relationship comments. Don't they remember what happened when Elizabeth paid a surprise visit to Paul at his home? That "other girl" had designs on getting Paul back from the moment she appeared in the strip.

Liz, El Paso

Hi, Lynn--Like many others, I have followed FBorFW for a long time. I remember Michael and Liz as babies, then April. Gosh, has it been so long? I never thought of YOU as growing older, too!

Others have said it well, so I won't go onandonandon about how well you have handled 'Life Situations'. There have been so many great times with the Pattersons. Happy and Leaky-eye times!

As far as I am concerned, you have been right on with Iris and Jim. Ya gotta make jokes or you will just cry. Iris cried even with the joking. She is real

Mostly what I want to say is about YOU. As I said, I never considered you 'ageing'! But of course you are older than you were! I sure hate to think the Pattersons will not age anymore. That was the best thing about your creation. They are REAL, they have foibles, they love, they get angry, they are happy, on and on. Just as we accept life for ourselves (more or less gracefully) I have to accept your choices.

I will miss seeing Michael and Dee's kids grow up, miss seeing what happens with Liz and Anthony, Elly and John, Iris and Jim, April and her friends and Band, and all the others.

I, too, have a health 'issue', Fibromyalgia! But we learn to live with, around and thru these things. I hope you continue to live happily!

So, all things said, I love your FBorFW, I admire your work, I am impressed with your accomplishments, and I wish that your new road be a gentle and enjoyable one.

There is SOOOO much more I could say, but I do go onandonandonandonandon!

So, Love and Mewsic,

Mewsicat, Oklahoma

I love the whole potential of having a stepparents/stepchild relationship in the strip. I am stepmom to two great boys (ages 15 & 10) and am always looking at how stepparents (especially stepmoms) are portrayed in the media. I look forward to possibly seeing this story line come out of Liz & Anthony's relationship! Keep up the great work!!!!

Jennifer D, Belleville Michigan

I love the way Lynn is portraying Therese as a sympathetic character and allowing us to see Anthony's many flaws. I am liking Therese more and more - poor thing, her parents and selfish husband pressured her into having a baby and she bought into the fairy tale. She was trying to please them, and it appears that she may have had self-esteem issues. It's upsetting to see Anthony staring cluelessly at her while she clearly is in distress with post-partum depression. Why didn't he try to help her adjust? Get her counselling? Wasn't he concerned for her well-being? It's hard to justify an affair, but really - when your husband doesn't support you in a crisis, you could respond to a sympathetic co-worker pretty easily. After the last week of strips, I am feeling bad for Therese and I am disliking Anthony more and more.

Ann, Alberta

I have no idea where Liz got the idea that she can deal with Therese. I think Therese has all the ammunition she'll ever need to run Liz right into the ground.

When it comes down to it, Francoise is Therese's daughter and there's every likelihood that she'll catch wind of Liz being the Other Woman quite early on (and Liz was most certainly the Other Woman). And I have no idea how Liz plans to talk her way out of that one, as her pairing up with Anthony vindicates Therese completely.

As for "knowing who she is", pfft. Liz didn't move home for a positive reason, like a good job -- she moved home because she was suddenly homesick and then lived in her parents' house for ages. As for Anthony, he apparently married a woman with totally different goals from his, pined after an idealised relationship, and essentially let the entire thing fester. Ugh.

They deserve each other, certainly, but given all their decisions have been made based on passive choices and fear, I'm not seeing the grand, mature romance angle. I'm just seeing two people regressing.

Nina, NY

As far as two Patterson children marrying their grade school sweethearts, SO WHAT?? It's not like Liz was a hermit and didn't have relationships with other men. What better mate than someone who shared so much of your history with you? I wish I had married one of my high school boyfriends. I can only imagine what a hoot it would be going down memory lane at high school reunions. As long as they both grew up and had other experiences, I say GO LIZ and ANTHONY!!

The Patterson family is not a spoiled little family. They are quite typical of what 95% of us want in life. So what if the the parents helped their kids. It's not like they stole the money. John was a hard-working dentist and Elly was a homemaker and then later owned a bookshop.

Rosanne S, Chicago

I think the relationship between Anthony, Liz, and Therese is just a human relationship.

Fine, perhaps him and Liz fooled themselves into thinking they could move on and the past was the past.

Perhaps, Therese and Anthony thought they would be together forever, and yet they realized that it wasn't meant to be. She had the affair, and she broke the bonds of marriage. I didn't think Anthony acted improperly, but rather as a friend during these times. I cannot agree that he misbehaved at any point in time. Pathetic and desperate at times yes. However, when have we not acted stupidly when our emotions were in turmoil? I'm not saying it's right, but it's understandable. The thing was is that she left the marriage by cheating on him, not him first. He and Elizabeth went out of their way to not jepoardize his marriage. Also, the story from their "inside" was passed onto Liz by Michael and their friends, so there's a bit of bias there. So, that says a lot. I've run into a lot of women that think that way. Also, perhaps he didn't want to see the big flaws in the relationship, because he loved Therese. It's entirely possible. A lot of people would be guilty of that sort of !
thing.

People go into a marriage thinking that "love" will last forever. Well, sometimes the "love" is love, and other times it's just "love".

I love the story. Sometimes things aren't picture perfect, but they seem to work for the best. I'd say I'm in a bit of Liz's position myself. Sometimes things do work out that way.

I think in a way, Lynn writes from her experiences in a sense. Sometimes, things just work out and not in the way you expected or planned to be. :)

Christie, USA

Oh poor Therese! We saw in previous strips that Anthony had pressured her to have a baby, now we see her parents did as well! So she agrees to, to make other people happy, and ends up suffering from Post-Partum Depression when her hormones go all out of whack from pregnancy and delivery. It's heartbreaking to see her sobbing while Anthony looks confused. Liz doesn't mention it - I wonder if he took her to an understanding doctor.

Having an affair is never a good thing, but after seeing Anthony moon over Liz during his marriage, especially asking her to "wait for him" within an hour of her being nearly raped, I can understand Therese's feelings.

Denise L, Chicago area

I've enjoyed the series of strips recounting Anthony's marriage; it's good to see Therese as a person who made some mistakes rather than someone irrationally mean. Still, the phrasing in last panel on Saturday has me wondering. Did you mean to make Liz sound like Yoda?

Leslie, Alabama

Reader funny you are.

I am enjoying the "insight" into Anthony, Liz and Therese. It is also showing that Liz has thought about all this very seriously. For all the young ladies out there struggling with life's choices, I hope they are encouraged by Liz's comments about finding out who SHE was and how important that is to your self image and other relationships! As always - LOVE the comic strip and stories!

I don't think you are "demonizing" Therese. I think she was trying to fit a "mold" created by her parents. She was torn between wanting to please them and wanting to please herself. I think this should be an eye opener to parents who don't encourage their children to find themselves. Therese tried and failed - not uncommon in thsi world. FBorFW isn't about a "perfect world" to me - it is about how life really is with ups and downs, success and failure. Anthony does have a fault in this - like too many men, he fell for a beautiful woman. They both overlooked each others faults and you are showing both sides of the story (if people are willing to see both sides). With Liz telling the story, I think you are accomplishing this quite well!

Susan G, Clearfield PA

Man alive, I hate Anthony. Before this he was just a townie, one of those guys who never leaves his hometown for any length of time and who surreally becomes his father almost overnight. Now, though, I think he's a manipulative weakling who tried to railroad his first wife.

He clearly decided the life he wanted, and attempted to jam Therese into it. She develops postnatal depression, and given his track record, I have no doubt he just skulked around looking at her fearfully and whining through his moustache. At what point, exactly, did Anthony realise that putting a wedding ring on Therese's finger would not automatically make her want to morph into Elly Patterson? The woman had a career and a life! Early 20s is no longer a common time for university-educated women to get knocked up!

Liz's utter inability to see this weakness in her beau is not very encouraging on the supposed maturity count, and her attitude towards Therese is dimwitted. She deserves to get sealed up in that house with the brood of children Anthony clearly sees her with. Bleh, this entire situation is so gross and wrong.

Interesting to see the letters, though -- I suspect a lot of the supporters of this storyline are older, while those of us Liz's age are pulling our hair in fury. Not saying that anyone's viewpoint is wrong -- but possibly that Liz's lack of comment about the situation's negative points is out of step with the thinking of her supposed peers.

Grace, Boston

I'd just like to thank you for the last week's set of strips truly humanising Therese. I now truly understand her side of the story and why she felt she needed to leave Anthony, and feel more and more that she is an understandable and even likeable human being, as opposed to her one-sided villain portrayal thus far. Anthony's emotional distance from her and her struggles with PPD pour out even with Liz standing in as the ultimate unreliable narrator.

Mat S, Manchester

I am so glad that Liz and Anthony are finally going to be together. The story line around them all these years just goes to show that things dont always work out at first and it takes time. I have read it for as many years as I can remember and find it to be so true to real life, in a nutshell. Thank you so much, Lynn for keeping this wonderful strip going. The strip is the first thing I read every morning. I hate to ever see it come to an end.

Cheryl, Palatine, Illinois, USA

Wow! I feel so bad for Anthony after hearing Elizabeth describe what took place in his marriage to Therese (8/25).

Some people may think that Therese was the victim, but I just don't see it that way. Anthony really tried to make things work with her - but that was obviously not true for Therese.

Anthony could have ran right out and reciprocated (cheated) when his wife left him for another man, but instead, he chose to get out of the relationship legally first, via divorce. So he asked Liz to wait for him - Therese had already finished the marriage at that point.

I'd love to see Elizabeth and Anthony get married and show the world how great a marriage can be when both parties are equally committed to making it work.

Just my opinion, for what it's worth. Keep up the fantastic work, Lynn & company!

Carrie, California

I have been reading FBorFw for ten years and have almost every book. From the time that they broke up to now, I always knew that Liz and Anthony would end up together again, I just on the edge of my seat each time they met and spoke. I'm so glad that they're together again, it gives me hope that you can find love in this world. Keep it up Lynn!!

Martina, Dunnville ON

Just read that your characters are soon to become 'ageless'.

I just wanted to send you a hug in addition to many thanks for the wonderful family that you created - the only strip that I ever look at.

I'm 53 and have belonged to a book club for the last 8 or so years. It's a really diverse group but we;ve really bonded in terms of having things to say and having a terric group of women who are always ready to listen. We haven't always agreed on the book but we always like the wine, munchies and company!
During this time we've shared weddings, death, birth, new jobs, new homes, new lives...The support is always there!
I think of the Pattersons in the same way that I cherish these ladies.

There is really 'grass roots' goodness in what you've created. It's reassuring in a world that is struggling with so many complex issues.

I wish you many more years of love, happiness, success and great wine with wonderful friends!

Here's to you - Cheers!

Debbie S, Fredericton

I really like the juxtaposition between the words Liz is saying in this weeks strips and the story the illustrations are telling. My heart is aching for poor Therese at this point. I almost cried when I saw the frame that indicated she had post partum depression. That poor woman! Pressured by her family and Anthony to marry someone she wasn't totally sure of, to have a baby when she wasn't ready but did because others wanted it, to buy a house where she didn't want to live but her husband did, then have to face the fact that her husband was still in love with his old high school girlfriend no matter what Therese did for him, and finally to get saddled with a case of post-partum depression so bad that she probably felt it was better to just walk away and leave everything rather than risk messing up her kid... that's tragic. She probably had the affair just to seal the deal, to make certain that everybody else saw her as the failure she perceived herself to be.

Kathy Y, USA

Please, I am begging you: stop rewriting Anthony/Therese history and making her a villain. This strip is right on the brink of becoming unbearable for me to read anymore.

Just to review:
1. Anthony married someone he mentally cheated on; 2. He refused to change his appalling eating habits or put any effort into his appearance, BUT 3. He expected his career-oriented wife to have a baby; 4. Yet somehow he's a martyr for taking a year off to raise the child; 5. He had no empathy whatsoever for her postpartum depression, after she had a child that she did not want in the first place; 6. She divorces him and he is still the victim even though he clearly never gave up his feelings for Liz.

Wow, Anthony's a GREAT guy!

It's a shame that you hate feminists so much that you have to vilify them in your strip.

Marie, Gary Indiana

As a woman who has suffered with postpartum depression, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to read that Therese suffered from PPD. I do hope you take advantage of this opportunity to sensitively discuss PPD. I would love to hear more of "Therese's story".

Elizabeth RP, Michigan

I've been a fan for so many years and I must say that your ability to craft a story never ceases to amaze me.

I never really cared for Therese very much. Thank you for these last few weeks of strips, Lynn. You really have transformed her into sympathetic character by showing how her life has been affected by Elizabeth -- indirectly of course. We've also learned a lot about Anthony. Anthony's character has really rounded into one that completely misjudges people.

Anthony married his Therese while still in love with his high school girlfriend. He misjudged the effects of having a child with a Therese while he was still perusing Elizabeth. He pursed her so obviously that Therese picked right up on it many times. It must have been very embarrassing for her. Perhaps this is what drove her to cheat on him. Ultimately, Anthony didn't understand nor respect Therese. Now Anthony is making that mistake again with poor Elizabeth.

This Saturday, Elizabeth herself says that Anthony trusts her. But the last time Elizabeth asked a man (Paul) to trust her and get a job transfer to live closer to her, she moved away right after the transfer!

Thanks for all of the amazing twists Lynn! Just a few months ago I didn't really know what made Anthony tick, or what was bothering poor Therese. Now they are vibrant characters.

Richard S, Fairfield Iowa