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WHEW! I was worried for awhile because the strip, my second favorite, had changed. I'm glad to learn of the reason for the change and look forward to watching the new story lines develop. I, too, hope Elizabeth and Anthony get married.

Jan, Illinois

We are longtime fans and we came to the website to find out why old strips were being run again. Now that we know the reason for it we can relax and enjoy. We remember reading those strips when they first came out and it's like seeing pictures of old friends again. Glad you are introducing the old strips through the current characters. However one thing that has always set this comic strip apart and above the others was the charaters growing and aging along with the rest of us. Please reconsider stopping the maturing of the characters. Thanks.

Pat and Cindy M, Duluth MN

I have followed your comic strip since it first appeared in our local paper the Advertiser. Too many years ago to remember. Even when my wife and I are on holidays, the first thing we do when we get home is check the strips we have missed on the computer. So thanks for the many hours of joy following the lives of the Paterson's. It is such a pleasure following the ups and downs of a normal family. Please clear up the Elizabeth, Anthony romance for my wifes sake.

Ted L, Australia

I have thoroughly enjoyed your strips over the years and am disapointed with the new direction.
I certainly felt there was much more todevelop with the characters in the future. I am getting older with adult children in similar situations. I'm confident there is more to tell in my life and have been looking forward growing older with all of the Pattersons.

Tom R, Minnesota

What a lovely, graceful way to turn the strip. Yes, freezing time is a good idea since comic strips are supposed to be humorous (remember when they were called 'funnies'?) and watching characters go off into that long good-night is a sad business.

But, it says more about how you see yourself and your limitations: very real, very graceful, very lady-like.

I wish you well as you turn this corner. Very good move.

Kindest regards

Mrs. T, Norfolk VA

AAAAAAAAHHHH!!! (Squeal of joy!) You made good on your subtle threat implied in your radio interview to reveal to the US what a Tupperware Party is!!! Mom had several over the years and we had to play outside while the neighbourhood ladies played party games and sounded like they had a ball - I remember Mom questioning whether Tupperware made a bread container large enough for a fresh loaf based on their similar displayed celery container - and a few months later they started making them! Yet again you bring a memory to the surface and share the Canadian experience with the world. You are now a cultural ambassador - Margaret Meade would be so proud! I can imagine the chuckles at your drawing board... what fun!

Christopher M, Toronto

Dear Lynn and Company,

You spent an entire Sunday panel on an old Sunday strip that wasn't the slightest bit funny or nostalgic or even wry in the least? I want my minute back. If you are going to run old strips, I wish like anything that you would choose some that (a) help advance or underscore the current storylines (b) don't make your characters out to be even less admirable than they already are, and (c) have some sort of humor in them.

You coasted for the last few weeks on stories about how Mike used to be, and all supposedly through Liz's incredibly generous viewpoint of Mike being "Smart, Sensitive and Theatrical"! Oh PLEASE. NONE of those strips showed anything of the sort, he only came off as a vile manipulative little rat. As the strips progressed, Liz became younger and younger until it is OBVIOUS that she was MUCH too young to remember any of it. She had to have listened to MIKE tell her how smart and sensitive he was, and she tossed in the theatrical part because she knows an act when she smells one.

Good GRIEF, Lynn. I'm wonder now if I'm pulling a Liz and only THINK things were better back then. I looked forward to some nostalgia but it's all been disappointing so far. Please prove me wrong. Please.

Truman Fable, Georgia

I love your strip, it's no.2 in our paper,(Hagar no.1). It's no.1 with me and it's read first before all others. I hope your new story lines click,(they will of course). Our paper has been deleating strips and trying new ones, but yours stands strong with reader surveys. Dagwood was put out then brought back. All the best !!

Paxman9270, USA

I have read FBorFW for as long as I can remember and respect the natural progression and familial intimacy of the strip; HOWEVER, I cannot possibly understand why Elizabeth is relating what happened when she was a baby. I'm pretty foggy up until age seven or eight and even now I'm vaguely convinced that Tony Danza was my nanny.

Meredith H, Florida

FBOFW is the first thing I look at in my morning paper.
Last winter when I began retirement away from home, I even went onto the Internet to be able to get my daily fix without a newspaper.
I find the older strips so angular and appreciate the fact that Lyn has smoothed out her characters, over the years.Lyn has been living and that shows up in her characters. We all change as we live and learn. Of course I have favorite story lines, but none that I can't empathize with. Keep up your interesting work, Lynn, as long as you can!

Ruth C, Michigan, Illinois, and Florida

Lynn,

I am a faithful reader since its inception. Imagine going to work the next day with the only thing on your mind was what was happening with FBorFW! Whether it was John's mid-life crisis, Elly's store, Michael's marriage and subsequent book deal, Elizabeth teaching or April growing up, it was something to look forward to every day.
The thought of going on without some storylines not cleaned up yet will be horrible.

All I ask is that you please Elly's dad peace as he approached the end and to protect April as she becomes a young lady. I was REALLY afraid when that boy brought over alcohol when she was babysitting.

All of this is kinda weird from a grown man, but that's how important this family became. Best of luck to you in your future and thank you for the Patterson's.

Steven M, Long Island NY

I am 68 years old, and have been enjoying "For Better or For Worse" for many, many years. I laughed and cried with each story line, and it seemed as if I was going through the same situations in my own life. I raised my children, went through their weddings, the birth of grandchildren, and the caregiving days while Ellie's simple sense of humor and wisdom brought tears and insight into these situations. I look forward to always having this family in my life, including all their ups and downs. Please, keep up the good work! Thank you!!!

Barbara Y, Brooklin NY

I have enjoyed FBorFW as long as I can remember. I especially liked that the characters would age in "real time." I love what's happening now with the earlier strips combined with present day comments. And I can only imagine how much time and effort it takes to produce a daily comic strip. However, although Lynn deserves her "semi-retirement", I am going to miss seeing the characters grow and change and continue for as long as Lynn does.

Perhaps the earlier strips could be repeated with some input from the characters and even once a month a present-day strip? Or once every two months? This is not an average comic. It stands out and it shouldn't just stop in time. I'm sure your fans would agree to less strips in exchange for the continuation of the characters. Thank you.

Elle M, NYC

Hi, I am a retired mounted police officer and my horse is named Farley after a officer(Police Officer Gary Farley) that was assaulted and died from his injuries.When children asked my horses name I did not want to upsat them so I started telling them that my horse was named after this big sheep dog tha was in the comic strip. Well we know what happened then to good old farl. Now I just tell the little ones his name is Barley like the oats he eats. Just thought you would like to know someone thinks about fbofw and that big old dog almost every day Thanks for being you, sincerly

Buddy J, Nassau County Long Island NY

I have been reading your strip (it is my favorite)for what seems forever, though unfortunately not from the beginning since my local paper didn't publish it then. I can distinctly remember when April was born: the pizza truck outside in the snowstorm, with the "We Deliver" sign on top. I am about Elly's age, and we have shared many times in common (menapause!)Recently, you have even helped me during my father's illness and subsequent passing, as I read about Jim, his difficult times, troubles with his aides, his wheelchair, walker etc.
I was concerned about what was happening with the flashback strips, altough I liked them since I had not ever seen them before. You may be interested to know that this is a topic of letters to the editors in the NY Daily News, with readers wondering and commenting about what is going on. It was through this that it occured to me to read your website, as suggested by a reader in the paper, to find out about what was going on.
Thanks so much for your wonderful strip. But please don't ever completely abandon it to reruns!

Norma R, NYC

I began reading BForFW when I was pregnant with my first daughter in 1990-1991 when Elly was pregnant with April. I would LOL as we shared pregnant moments together. I've been an avid follower since. "April" and Tori are now 16, and we continue to share moments, thank God, not pregnant ones. :)I found the FBorFW wesite when I quit receiving the newspaper and needed my FBorFW fix. OK...I'm addicted. Thanks for the laughs!

Crystal R, Lancaster CA