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I am all for the romance (and I hope marriage) of Anthony and Liz!!! I think Anthony is a true gentleman -- he did not push Liz after he found out Paul cheated on her. I agree that Warren was an opportunist and I thought it was mean that he dumped Liz right into the situation, finding Paul and Susan, without warning. Back to Anthony -- yes, he did make an emotional plea "Wait for me!" But his marriage was already over -- Therese had left him and the baby. He did NOT leave her. After all, it's hard to catch Liz between boyfriends, so he probably just wanted to let her know he still loved her! I don't see that he cheated on Therese emotionally. When he saw nothing was moving forward for Liz and him, he tried to move on with his life. I believe he tried with Therese -- because he seems to be that type of true gentleman. Liz becoming a stepmother to Francie is REALISTIC in today's world. And, it will be filled with challenges, as any step-parent knows. I think Liz and Anthony can be very happy together. The readers who want the dashing, handsome, exciting beaus for Liz may not realize that all that stuff is fluff. Anthony is a truly kind-hearted man.

Kathleen H, Ohio

My husband and I are both teachers. We recently moved to the United Arab Emirates to teach at a private school in Dubai. We have yet to get internet as we cannot apply for it until we get residency. Whenever I get a chance I go to an internet cafe to email friends and family and to catch up on FBorFw. Reading your strip is like visiting home. Thank you for your wonderful work. I plan on keeping up with FBorFw wherever my teaching adventures take me.

Sarah H, Canada

Hi there;
I just wanted to say that I am really appreciating the Liz/Anthony/Terese story line. It is progressing in a reasonable, real life manner. You are beginning to show T's side of the story, and it's good that you are doing that. It is showing that here we have a couple who made mistakes, which happens in real life. Anthony was swept up in her glamorous looks and her intelligence and her culture (dancing, etc.). He thought this was a person he could be with. I still don't really know why she wanted Anthony, but perhaps it was because they shared some common interests and he was a gentleman, and her parents would love him, and then she wouldn't be alone. She might have been afriad of being alone. And I appreiciate that you are not really placing blame on anyone, because Anthony got sucked in and Therese got sucked in as well, and Elizabeth just wants to be with this man, who just happens to be her high school crush, and there's nothing wrong with that. It happens in real li!
fe all the time. Thanks for showing the whole story. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

Samantha D, North Bay, Ontario

I really would like to see more of Therese. The backstory of her marriage to Anthony, no matter how hastily the backstory was crammed into the strip, shows the torment that each partner in that marriage went through. I want to learn more about her torment, why Anthony was worth it for her (for a while, at least), why she was worth it for him, and everything else about her. "She was a good dancer and so was he" isn't enough. What were her depression symptoms? What attracted her to her colleague? What was she thinking, having a baby because she was pressured to? You've created an intriguing, flawed character and not turned a blind eye to her faults. I very much want to see more!

Kate W, California

It is true that children suffer because of their parents' divorce. It is also true, that there are children who suffer infinitely more because their parents were NOT divorced. I know; I was one of them.

As for maturity levels, if Therese was so mature and well-adjusted, why in the world did she simply acquiesce to her parents' and Anthony's wishes? It seems to me that she wasn't any better in tune with herself and her needs as anybody else in the picture. Secure people call their own shots, and don't have a need to control everybody else. And from the glimpses we've had of Therese's history, she brought plenty of her own "baggage" to the relationship, and would have regardless of any residual feelings Anthony had for Liz. Yes, her depression could have been the post-partum type, but it is equally likely that a lifetime of trying to live up to others' expectations simply caught up with her.

In the end, none of these folks are bad people. They have their warts, to be sure, but in the end, they are just people, doing the best they can with their own particular strengths and limitations. Let's show everyone concerned a little compassion, wish that they find whatever it is they are looking for, both within and without, and raise a glass to lessons learned the hard way, and new, healthy beginnings.

Kitty K, Boston

Dear Lynn,

I'm sure you're getting a lot of messages to this effect, but I just want to say congratulations on an amazing run for FBorFW - it has been my favorite strip for several years now and I look forward to reading it every day.

Reading about the plans to wind down the story and "stop time" for the Pattersons actually brought tears to my eyes! (What at sap!) But seriously, it reminds me of finishing the "Little House" series as a girl and saying good-bye to those beloved characters. I will keep reading and send my best wishes to Elizabeth and Anthony! ;-)

Tara R, Farmington NY

I have been reading FBorFW almost from the beginning, and I want to say once again how much I enjoy this comic strip - my day is not complete until I have read it.

I have been reading the comments on the Anthony/Liz/Therese story line, and the thing that strikes me most is how so many people can read the same strip day after day and have so many different perspectives on it. Each person sees something different, or finds the emphasis on a different aspect of the story. It's really amazing! I have found that reading the comments makes me look at the story line from many different perspectives as well, and almost all of them have some merit or make me say, "Wow, I never thought of it that way". The Pattersons really are like our best friends and next-door neighbours, and we all relate to them and care about them and, therefore, have strong opinions as to what they should or should not do. It is a tribute to your abilities that you can elicit such a strong and varied response to your characters. Thank you for sharing them with us!

Cheryl F, London

Okay, so you're blaming THERESE for this? I think I would blame, oh, I don't know, ANTHONY or maybe ELIZABETH. Anthony didn't even comfort his wife when she suffered from PDD, and then had a co-worker more sympathetic than her own husband? She was bullied into this by her bossy parents and spineless whiny husband! How could you blame Therese for "capturing" Anthony? EXCUSE me! Anthony obviously does not have good judgement. He could have asked his wife if he could shave the moustache off, but he just sat in a corner and sulked, giving scared looks at Therese. Come on! Will he do this to Elizabeth? Thought he was in love, then, fall for someone else and forget his wife? Yeah, this wedding, will be so right. Elizabeth and Anthony are acting like little kids!

Mimi, West Virginia

Elizabeth is a total bore. She came home with her tail between her legs and found safety in the arms of...
Anthony??? She needs to dump his sorry rump, go back to Mtigwaki and get her job back. April has way more spunk and guts than Elizabeth. I always thought the middle child was the one that created the most havoc in a family. Elizabeth couldn't create havoc if she tried. I honestly think she should go back up north and focus on making a life for herself. She was as loved and accepted there as she is at home plus she had the benefit of learning self-reliance. Elizabeth needs to quit being John and Ellie's little prim and proper princess and become a strong self-reliant adult female. At the rate the two daughters are going, April will be out on her own and conquering the world while Elizabeth is sitting around deciding what kind of cat food to buy or if Anthony really does look better with a mustache...

Sindee N, NY

Why did Michael keep Liz informed about the intimate details of Anthony's marriage while she was away and involved with Paul?

Liz only knows Anthony's perspective on his marriage. I'd like to hear Therese's side of the story, directly from Therese. She has been portrayed as a strong-willed person, determined to have her way, so it's hard to believe that she caved in to parental pressure on such life-changing matters as buying a house and having a child. I would love to see either Therese or her parents have a visitation day with Francoise, even if it's just mentioned in passing that "Francoise is with her Mimsy and Pop-Pop (or whatever the nicknames are) today." They've all been mysteriously absent, as well as Anthony's parents.

I've always wanted to see Liz & Anthony wind up together. I hope they can work through all their baggage, let go of past grudges and work with Therese and her family to raise Francoise to feel loved by all her parents, grandparents, and step-family.

I enjoy the strip and often sign on early in the morning to see the next installment. You are a great writer, Lynn, to have stirred so much passion about your characters. I also enjoy the artwork. With such a small canvas to work with, you manage to capture the full range of human emotions. For one example, the tears in Iris's eyes and the pain shown in Jim's eyes at his frustration with his aphasia speak more than 1,000 words could.

I am sorry to see the strip wind down, but I'll stick with it, whichever format you choose. Thanks for so many years of delightful entertainment.

Mary K, New York

It would have been nice to actually have seen April's time at the farm, as opposed to watching her talk about it in the car.

It is a mystery to me why April is largely ignored or made fun of, just like that one member of the family who, for unknown reasons, is just never treated as well as everyone else.

Instead of seeing April's budding career as a veterinarian, we got several days of the whole sorrid Liz/Anthony/Therese drama, which was a badly written (and failed) attempt to blame Therese for the demise of the marriage. If anything, Therese has more support, and Anthony looks like an even bigger creep.

At barely 30 years old, you've got Michael settled into a daily life of domesticated malaise. Elizabeth is "one walk down the aisle" from making the worst mistake of her life and will experience for herself the reasons that Therese left.

April is the only Patterson sibling left with a decent shot at life. I'm glad that the comic is going to be frozen next week, that way April won't eventually have her life wrecked by immature childhood fantasies as well.

Joe, Michigan

I guess this is where I'm supposed to generate a lot of angst and hand wringing over the "precipitous" shift in format next week. Sorry, but I can't oblige: I'm pretty excited about the change.
You see, I'm one of those readers who got a little hooked on the strip in the early 80s and a lot distracted in the ensuing years. It was a time when college+new career+growing family=less time for pleasures like FBorFW.
Only now am I starting to catch up on what I missed, thanks in large part to a web site that (as my kids would say) rocks very hard. So if Lynn wants to take a few detours through important past Patterson moments, I'm more than happy to come along for the ride. A lot of it is new to me, anyway; and I know from my own life experience that much of it is going to feel new to the veterans as well. After all, who hasn't looked back from their 20s, their 30s or their 40s, only to discover that events from the past both big and small have taken on whole new shades of meaning.
So Lynn & company, as you embark on the new format, remember one thing: Those of us who got distracted for a while and 'straggled in after curfew' can only say thanks for leaving the porch light on!

Mike, Maryland