« Wednesday July 2, 2008 | Main | Friday July 4, 2008 »

i just want to say that i have clipped frorfw from the various news papers that have been around the country as i moved for over ten years. one of my favorties is when john took a young liz to help him pick out jewelry for elly. liz chose a friendship ring for him to give elly. also, farley, dear farley..... i was in a book store receintly and reread the day he saved april. there i am standing in barnes and noble with tears running down my cheeks. i wish all of you a good future! lynn, thanks for the years of the pattersons traveling around with me. i'm going to miss them when you go retro, and hope you will do a book to let us know how everyone turns out. the latest strips with april and grandpa jim have been especially touching to me as i just lost my grandfather last month from heart problems. he was the most important person in my life and i miss him terribly. as i read april saying its just the time she spends with him though they can't do all they once did it!
really touches home. thank you, lynn, thank you.

Kelly G, Phoenix AZ

I have to agree with those who do not like the reruns. The great thing about this strip is the suspense of the storylines. I can't wait to get back to the Liz/Anthony story.

I hope you will reconsider! I have noticed and appreciated how incredibly detailed the background drawings have become in FBFW in recent years. Perhaps you could save time with simpler drawings, yet still continue with new storylines?

Joan, Michigan

I REALLY love for better or for worse...I like the old ones even better.I enjoy seeing Baby Elizabeth,and Boy Micheal.It would be so cool to see a Sunday,colored strip in wich Baby Elizabeth gets lost & found.I am doing a comic strip of my own called "old rubber",main character is Renn Molt.
Thank You.

Craig M, CA

I just want to say that I love this strip!! My favorite is Liz. I am very happy she will marry Anthony. Maybe he's not as exciting as Warren (on the surface) but he is what she needs and wants. As far as Paul, I now understand him more after reading the inside story but it still doesn't excuse the fact that he cheated on Liz. Maybe she was sending him mixed signals but that is not an excuse to cheat on her. The poor girl already had one BF cheat on her. I didn't like the implication that it was somehow her fault. No one blamed Anthony when Therese cheated on him, so what's different? I can't wait for them to finally get married.

An avid fan in Florida

The second thing I do when we get our paper is going to your strip.You almost set the mood for the day.Hopefully we can leave with a smile but not with a "why did she do that" thought.Now t5hat our daughter is reading it too, Its funny hearing her comments.
I am sure that you never realized how many people you touch everyday.
How about John's trains?
thank you

Jurrien E, Prince George BC

I like the hybrid idea. If you must retire (read the sarcasm... you've been at it a long time and have done a great job, you deserve a rest!) you've picked a beautiful way to do it. A few snippets of new fodder once in a while will keep us "old readers" hanging on for as long as you do. You go, girl!!

Iris L, Alberta CA

I really look forward to reading this strip every day. Unfortunately my local paper doesn't have a Monday edition so I would often miss a crucial element in the story line until I found this website a few months ago. I created a shortcut on my desktop so I could quickly read about my favorite characters. Thank you for my "daily strip fix"!
Submit: Spill Your Beans

Susan S, Cairo Georgia

I have read you strip daily for many,mnay years. I have lived my life to extent through it.When Mike was leaving home, my only child was leaving.When Elizbeth was have love problems, my son was going through divorce.When Elly lost her Mom I had just lost my grandmother. My husband died suddenly in 2005 and he like myself read your first daily.Right know Elle's father is suffering from dementia after stroke, so is my Mom and my Dad is showing signs of the same thing. I have gay friends come and and saw how they were treated
must like Mikes friend. Your comic strip is like good friend I never met but loved anyway.My only niece will be 17 next week and I see April in her.Thank you for writting something so real it touches lives. It is real to many who read and comfort for those going through it.
Just ThankYou

Judy N, Enterprise Alabama

Lynn, I just wanted you to know that I really enjoy the facial and body expressions in your strip (i.e., think your drawing is really special) and have suggested to several young artists that they could learn a great deal by looking at them closely. Then recently, I was talking to another artist who says she cuts the faces in FBorFW out to use them in collage, as they are the best around. I also love the story, so to entirely enjoy the drawing as well is an extra treat. Thank you so much.

Leslie S, Ukiah CA

I am a native of Germany who married an U.S. Soldier. I started reading FBORFW back in the 80's with the very first book which was written. I bought it at the American Forces Network Book Store, in Nuernberg, Germany and was hooked ever since. I just had my son and could oh sooo well identify with Elly and John and their love bundle. We even had the same happen with our daughter when she decided to come into our lifes very late in the game.I still buy all the books faithfully and compare ourselfs to the happenings in the books. I absolutly love this family and have turned on a LOT of my friends to them as well. PLEASE keep up the good work. Every time a new one comes out I go into "my" room, nobody is allowed to interrupt me because I inhale it at first and then read it about five times to make sure I don't miss any of the details in the drawings. And I tell you what..... no matter how often I look at them I always find something that I didn't see before. I love the attention to detail in text and mimic. I hate to see the day when there are no more new books. How will I make sure my life is normal if there is no more FBORFW to compare notes to??? Thank you very much for all the great stories, they have made my life richer on a daily basis. THANK YOU

Michaela K, Ft. Worth Area

I've grown up with your characters and think things are resolving in a lovely fashion...I'm just sad to see the strip go, but very pleased I can read it online daily in StripFix! April in particular is very near and dear to our hearts as she was "born" right about the time my daughter Sofia made her entrance into the world. They are quite similiar girls and sometimes I appreciate the "heads-up" on certain teenage behaviour. ;) When FBorFW ends, it'll be like the demise of Bloom County or Calvin and Hobbes for me. Always fondly remembered and the daily funnies not quite the same!

Shelli B, Oregon and now Australia

I don't know where all the talk about rowdy, uncontrolled, classrooms is coming from. I am a teacher, high school mostly (I'm subbing while I'm going back to school for a Grad Degree) and I think today's kids are wonderful! They talk, really talk, to you and share so much of themselve with you. And classroom deportment, it is no better or worse than when I was in high school over thirty years ago. What is different is that kids are more in tune with what they want to do and how they think they will do it, like April and her friends. Are there kids who make teaching hard? Sure. BLut they are the minority.

Debra D, Los Angeles CA

When I was quite a bit younger, my parents needed to get a new driveway. My brother and I were allowed to write our names and put handprints in a corner of the new section of the driveway closest to our parents house. Since then it's gotten covered by dust and plant life. I wonder if it is still readable after all these years.
This was when I was in my 20s and my brother still a teenager.

Lara B, Santa Ana CA

I am born and bred English who just so happen to have lived in the States for 13 years. One of the things I missed was your comic strip so image my delight when a few years ago I found it online. It took me a few weeks to catch up, but now I never miss my daily log on to read the strip, also finding that I could purchase the books on line as well helped a lot. I will sorry to see the Patterson family retire so to speak, but understand that everyone no matter who deserves to relax more.

So relax and enjoy life more,
but thanks for a great family.

Carol N-H, New Denham Buckinghamshire England UK

I remember the strip where Elly finds herself in a quandary when trying to find just one book to buy, when she's surrounded by so many choices. I remember the strip where Elly is given that huge Snoopy, and hugs it tightly.

Ah, those were the days. The days before the storyline diverged wildly, and is now being crunched into a do-it-now wedding between yet another pair of childhood sweethearts. John and Elly must be the only ones in the strip who met each other as adults, not as children.

The whole Anthony thing is such a disappointment from what used to be a realistic storyline. I suppose the storyline would still be realistic, if Liz were portrayed as not caring whom she married, as long as she married, or if Anthony were given a real personality.

As it is, Anthony bears many similarities to Howard. When Liz was home for the summer - at a time when she had a man in her life - she was followed by both of them. Howard stalked her to find out where she lived. He sat outside her house. Eventually, he assaulted her. Anthony made sure he knew where she worked, came to her workplace to see her (while he was married) and after her assault, he took her to an out-of-the way place and took advantage of her emotionally. It was yet another assault, on top of the trauma she had already experienced.

This is just one reason why I can't stand Anthony. Not only is he insincere with his feelings and unable to express them, he thinks it's acceptable to take the woman he's obsessed with, who is already in a relationship, to an isolated area so he can try to wedge his way into her life again. Those are MAJOR warning signals. He didn't take her to the police station, he didn't ask her if she was all right, he took the opportunity to plead his case. The fact that he was married and she was in a relationship makes it even more reprehensible.

Anthony is supposed to be a "catch". Because he can dance? Because he's a good father? This "good father" saw to it that his daughter spent Christmas with his girlfriend's family. We don't see Francoise spending any time with her grandparents, or even having a telephone conversation with them. He's pushed Therese out of his life, and now he's pushing his daughter into the life HE wants her to live, not the life that is necessarily best for her. What is so great about that?

This "loving father" also married a woman he didn't love, tried to turn her into someone she wasn't, then cried when he didn't succeed. He's the kind of guy who can live for years off his imaginary woes. And his daughter will pay the price.

I know - it's too late now, the strip is ending, we have the magical dress, the magical ring, and I have no doubt we'll have the magical location, magical photographer, magical cake, magical everything cropping up all at once, so that this last-minute summer wedding will come off with a bang, rather than being a slapdash affair because the engaged couple didn't plan ahead. I know.

Erin

Wow. All I can think after the last few reruns is what a brat Michael was. Not cute at all.

What is the adult Michael up to? I like him a lot more.

PJ, Pleasanton CA

I have been a fan for years, especially since I have a 26-yr-old daughter Elizabeth who is getting married in September, and didn't decide on the date until this past April. See, your strip always chronicles OUR lives! Hers will be a non-religious ceremony, and one of the most challenging things so far was selecting the officiant from the wide and sometimes unusual assortment available. Food for thought....

Carol M, Ontario