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Think they are waiting till the weekend to celebrate April's Birthday, I understand April, It sucks having a birthday fall on a weekday, especially early in the week. Mine was on Monday! Have a good one.

Kesia L, Atlanta GA

"Women's LIP"?

Good grief, we -have- made progress, haven't we?

But I've got to say, I wouldn't have thought that was "cute" even back when Michael was a very demanding toddler.

Elly was much better at managing those children than John.

Susan S, New York

Hello from New Zealand.
I grew up in Vancouver and read the comic everyday in the Sun since it started I think. Anyways it was early 80's and I was about 11 when I think I started reading the comic. The whole family was hooked right away because it was so real! Our whole family read it and we still really enjoy it. Last Christmas Mom bought me the calendar and for the entire year of 2007 I had my FBorFW back in my life! I would NOT read ahead, because that just ruins it IMHO. Anyways, since I was re-united with FBorFW I thought, hey, maybe there is a web site. Viola, I can now have my Dilbert and FBorFW on my PC. Hooray for the internet and people like you who put up the content, thanks. I think the best part of FBorFW is the way the characters have grown up like we have in real life. Thanks for growing up with me.

Dave T, New Zealand

Thanks, Elizabeth H. I, too, wish FBoFW would publish a collection of Liz and Anthony's relationship, from start to present, including any of the relevant "sidestories" or "backstories." (Example of a "sidestory": high school Liz spraying the "babysitter" and her boyfriend with a fire extinguisher to cool them off! Grin!).

Great strip, Lynn! Thanks!

Fred B, San Antonio

I have grown up reading this comic, I am about the same age as Michael. My mom and I always have enjoyed sharing them. Now that I am based in Moscow with my husband and son. I enjoy looking at For Better or For worse even more. It always puts a smile on my face and reminds me of home.

Arlene T-L, Moscow

Lynn & Gang, I was really concerned when hearing about the new layout of the strip but over the last few months you have incorperated the old and new in such a way that it is a fabulous reminder of the history of the family. Some of the strips are like old family to me when they run again that now they relate in my life from a different direction.

Also thank you for the lead in about the impending wedding with the 'discovery' of grandma's dress. That should have been an Ahha! moment but of course for me it wasn't until Liz had it on. She looked amazing and I am so happy for her character. Anthony and Frannie need her as much as she needs them. She comes from a place of having to be needed to feel loved. Warren didn't need her, she was a convience to him, the cop didn't need her, he moved on quickly but Anthony needs her help with rasing his daughter and they have long last love. It reminds me so much of my own love story marrying my high school sweetheart 5 years after we should have because we each need to grow and see others, well, we found our way back to each other jsut as Anthony and Elizabeth did. I hope you will add a stip about Anthony & Liz sitting down together to tell Therese and making it clear SHE is Frannies mom, Liz just wants to love her too. Set up the family dynamic of a stepparent correctly early in the relationship........
Thanks for ALL the great work you do!! Your all a gift from God with your talents!!

Christina L, Rockford IL

I love this comic strip. Of all the comics I read, this is my favorite. I'm just wondering what is up with Elizabeth. Why is she looking so old? Also, it would be nice to see more of April in her element. Keep up the good work!

Alyssa H, Vancouver BC

Lynn, I am a huge fan. Thank you for giving the comics some depth. Even my husband reads the strip religiously. Thank you for bringing Elizabeth and Anthony together. One request...please, please, please let Jim live to see Elizabeth and Anthony walk down the aisle. Your strip when he gave his blessing was so heartwarming.

Thanks for staying with it.

Davida, Ashland MA

Seeing the diversity of opinions always surprises me. I can relate very well to all of the conversations in the strip and find everything in the strip inspirational

Kit H, California

If Connie wanted to be mother of the bride isn't there something missing like a daughter. Since she only had Lawrence I guess she will have to settle for being mother of the groom. Being gay or straight doesn't matter at all.

Julie T, Sault Ste. Marie, ON

I'm sorry Deanna didn't keep her name when she got married. I did, and there is plenty of story potential in that decision. Mostly I have been treated very disrespectfully, but there have also been humorous situations. Maybe Elizabeth could keep her name when she gets married.

Anne R, Short Hills NJ

I am still left in suspense in what Liz's ring looks like. After what her brother said, and her lovely little sister April raved about, I am still curiously imagining what it would looke like. Oh, well. After all, it is about their sweet love, not the silver thing around their finger, right? And the truth about the Liz and Anthony is that...
It's growing on me, I have to admit. Recently I had a dream, and they were there with me...
Ah, forget my ramblings please. Thanks for all the laughs, tears, and in betweens, Lynn.
P.S. Can't wait to see Elizabeth with her hair down? Up? At the wedding. Good luck!

Mimi, WV

Hah. Seven children and one demented adult. I kept remembering that all day.

Mimi, WV

Please don't stop running the old strips -- they are very funny and I've never seen them before. Elizabeth and Anthony is a huge mistake plot line and I can't bear to see one of my favorite characters (NOT ANTHONY)wind up in a bad marriage with a self serving idiot. She deserves so much more from life than a dork.

Donna, Conneticut

Thanks so much for the storyline on Elizabeth and Anthony. I am so glad they ended up together. I would appreciate some "gushy and sappy" dialog between the two of them! :)

Sandra W, Amarillo TX

Someone was unhappy that you'd used humor related to Jim's situation. I'm sorry - but humor is the ONLY way to survive trauma such as this. My mother suffered a stroke and has severe aphasia as a result - same as Jim. She gets very few words out that we can understand. Easter Sunday she was trying desperately to tell me something. It took 45 minutes during which about 10 family members tried to help me figure it out. We brought her magazines, photo albums and ads from the Sunday paper, hoping a picture of something would help her get the point across. I would write and draw pictures. Eventually, after 45 long minutes of her struggling and trying so hard that it was heartbreaking - I figured it out. All she was trying to do was let me know that an old friend had been to visit her the day before. When I figured it out, she said, "YES - YOU DUMBHEAD!" We all laughed so hard that we had tears coming out of our eyes! And she was so shocked at what she had actually said that she was laughing right along with us! It was a wonderful and very humorous moment!!! Never leave the humor out of tough situations - humor is what helps the world cope!

Susan, Twin Falls Idaho

I really do wish that Lynn would leave the old strips to the Sunday pages and have the storylines play out in the daily newspaper.

It's very jarring to be reading the storyline regarding Liz or one of the other storylines and suddenly be confronted the next day with a strip from the past.

I have to confess I'm not that big a fan of the old strips. I've read For Better or For Worse" for a long time and it was a pleasure to see the family come to grips with various happenings. I came to care about the Pattersons, and now I feel that a "stranger" has invited itself to my party.

Toby R, Spring Texas

Back in the old days, Elly and John (and the kids as well) were flawed people we recognized. They were "us". They knew how they were supposed to act but being human they sometimes yelled, cursed, made huge mistakes as parents and even admitted they wished they had followed another path.

But now with the focus on them, Michael and increasingly Liz, seem to be "too perfect" to believe. While we get to see occasional cracks in the veneer that is the exception instead of the rule (like with old John and Elly). These people in their 20s and early 30s all seem to be hopelessly boring, coffee swilling middle aged robots. Even the most responsible of people in that age group will still occasionally drink a few too many beers....or act silly and make love in the backseat of a car. (Hello Liz and Anthony....it's called passion).

I just sometimes feel that this grand and glorious strip has devolved into a fantasy of what those promoting "traditional family values" would have you believe life is like....and as we all know, it's nothing of the sort.

Brandon J, Atlanta GA

I love the strip and have read it for about 15 years. My only complaint is that there isn't more interactions with black families or people in general. yes, April has the "token" black friend, but that is about it...A few more interactions would be nice...

Dan, Newark NJ

Happy Birthday April!!! Sorry its late. It would be nice to see Lynn taking some time to write about you and your friends and the band, etc. Just because you're a free spirit and not marrying your high school sweetheart does not mean that we have to forget about you. Word of advice from the wise. I chose a life 180 degrees from that of my parents. You should go to college as far away from home as you possibly can, study vet medicine or whatever you want. And hopefully you won't wind up in Milborough.
It will be great to read about this one day in Lynn's future novel, hint, hint.

Brina G, Ohio

Intersting comments about Elly and wanting to keep/keeping control over her children.

My feeling is that Elly realizes that her children are adults and is proud of them. I don't recall that she has required them do things her way. Rather she has provided them with thoughtful guidance to help them make decisions. Through this she has developed a good relationship with all of them.

Whatever your children do, wherever they go, and forever how long a parent may live, their children are always their children. I feel that Elly was expressing her sense of joy and pride in being mother of Michael, Elizabeth and April.

Beth, Vancouver

Aww, today is April's birthday, and no mention of it? Oh, well, we don't get mention of Liz or Michael's b-day, either, so I guess it's fair. But today is my daughter's 17th birthday, too, so I ALWAYS make sure I read the April 1st strip, since it has almost always been hand-in-hand with my daughter's life!

On Lawrence's mom's comment about the white dress bit: OK, he's gay. Big deal. She's accepted it, so all's good, there. But the whole wedding routine is what SHE grew up with -- what many women our age grew up with and secretly hope for our daughters, or our sons -- a lovely, formal wedding celebrated with joy and lots of family and friends. Yes, we know that our secret dreams are baseless, because our children will have their own dreams to live out when the time comes. But that doesn't mean we don't still hold them, and don't feel just that tiny twinge of pride and envy when a good friend gets to see her dreams come to life!

Diane B, Sandy Springs GA

I am an occasional reader. I was so glad to read yesterday's strip noted that there is at least a mention of a gay character and that he has a partner. I did not think that the mother sounded selfish, only pointing out her feelings at the moment. I believe she showed that she truly supports and loves her son

Wendy M, Rochester NY

Love this comic strip! I find lots to laugh or cry about in your chronical of life since my husband is a dentist, I was a teacher of learning disabled students, and am a mother of three.

Although I'm glad to see Liz and Anthony together, I miss the dental humor-please include a few more dentist strips before you retire. I esp. loved the one with the 'witch' in the waiting room! Also, the dentist who notices teeth first at a party-or in my case-on t.v. And, the one about how they hate dentists 'no offense'!

Thanks for providing laughter about my spreading backside, fighting children, and marriage!

Peggy C, Texas

I have been following fbofw, well pretty much every since I could read. I am about the same age as Elizabeth and have loved watching all the characters in the family grow and change.

I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the honesty you portray in the strip. Humans aren't perfect and neither are the Pattersons and their circle of friends. We all have little selfish moments when we wish for the world the way we want to see it. A traditional wedding... a thinner body... it may not always be "politically correct" or even be the way we wish we were, but it's honest. This is one of the reasons why your characters can seem more real than make-believe. We can see ourselves in them.

Thanks for the many years of wonderful reading. I have enjoyed growing up with the Patterson family and look forward to re-visiting the old strips that I've never seen.

Samantha, Illinois

Reading todays strip with Elly and Connie was like my mother and myself talking! Did you have a tape recorder going on in my kitchen??
You and your team are great at what you do with the comic strip! Keep up the great work on it!

Sandy S, Hudson NH