« Tuesday October 9, 2007 | Main | Relatable characters »

One thing no one has mentioned is that this (your web site) positively rocks! It is easy to get around in and I love being able to find & follow old story lines. I have read you it seems forever. I am now a Gramma. Being in that hellish place of joy over watching these young ones grow & flourish and watch ones parents fail at the same time is just something I never imagined. My father died this past May. He had a heart attack @25 years ago, several small strokes and then one giant horrible life changing one (he finally quit smoking) about 15 years ago. He had clogged arteries, a bad heart, asbestosis of the lungs - and he just kept on going. He played golf until 2005. I use to tell him he was just too ornery to die. But I guess in the end everyone does, don't they. Watching Dad go through his last days - he hung on, because there were some who would not let him go - I pray that Jim is allowed the peace and dignity to be let go.

Also, too bad about Anthony's ex; any trouble that she could make would pale in comparison to what Liz & Anthony are together after everything they've been through. Right now, I identify terribly with Iris; with Dad just going and Mom now has her own lung problems going on. Sometimes is just seems like too much - and then there I God. Of course I am not enough. But He is.

I have to tell you that I am a horribly frustrated artist; that I love the seeming ease that you convey your characters emotions & actions. It was encouraging to read your bio and know that it is always a struggle sometimes.

I am sorry this got so lengthy but, well, when you invite someone to spill their beans, sometimes it becomes their guts.

I LOVE the hybrid format. I appreciate you and all the ways that you reach so many.

Char

Thank you so much for the real way you treat the 'aging process'! I lost my Dad this May, in Perth Ont. He had (fortunately) only been ill for a short time before passing...but I was able to see him close to the end...The tenderness with which you treat these issues has provided lots of material to use in my sermons!

Doug T, Rocanville Sask. Canada

I enjoy the real life situations and time frame of your comic strip. Perhaps by reading it it helps us prepare for the eventual life moments of life, death, love and loss and in some way gets us ready.

In your compasionate and humourous manner you show us another way to journey and negotiate these life moments as they will eventually happen to us.

Thank you

Ralph P, Toronto

I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate how much the Patterson's lives parallel real life. We are coping with my dad's recent stroke and we have just decided to put him in an assisted living house. My mother could no longer handle the stress of being his primary caregiver. The stress of my father's illness caught up with my mother and she had a minor stroke herself. When she had her minor stroke my brother and I made the arrangements for my father to go to into the assisted living. This has eased the stress for my mom. Thank you for this story line and showing how stressful being a primary caregiver can be on a family.

Jennifer M, Sacramento CA

Right now I can really relate to Elly because my grandparents are about the same age as Jim and have had some serious health problems, including a stroke and hospitalization. I know how hard it is to watch someone you love go through something so difficult. My family has always been very close and I think it is that sense of family that keeps me coming back to this strip every day.

Koren M, Modesto CA

I know it's a comic strip, but when I became a mom, you published the books on being a mom. I bought and read them all. Then I read every strip that came out. When I ended up with my "later in life baby" you introduced April, and now, I lost my 79 year old Dad in July, and you're helping me to deal with that too. Bless your heart, and keep your chin up Lynn, you make my day.

Patricia, Garden City Idaho