Lynn's Comments: This is an invented scenario. The only cash I found in the dryer was small change...but a cheque, now and then, did make its way into the laundry. Too bad cheques aren't made from the same semi-washable material as paper bills!
Author Archives: stripfix
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Lynn's Comments: To be completely fair at all times is an impossible task! Even if you do manage to think of everyone, the kids themselves will invent an inequality and you're stumped again!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Lynn's Comments: For three months one year, Rod and I worked on his sister and brother in-law's farm. They grew grain and raised pigs and I quickly went from being a city girl to driving the combine, chasing piglets, and building bins. It was an extraordinary experience, and the farm became one of my favourite places to take the Pattersons!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Despite his father's shortcomings, Gordon Mayes was being raised with a good work ethic and a sense of fair play. He feared and avoided his father, but his respect for his mother gave him some balance in a seesaw world. His difficult life at home gave him both courage and maturity. He might have looked like an underdog, but Gordon, in many ways, led the pack!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Lynn's Comments: It was hard to imagine my parents as children. To me, they had been born old and were just getting older. When they talked about days gone by, the photographs they turned to were black and white. Our world was in colour. What they talked about was hard to relate to. It was more like hearing a story than a real event.
Maybe it's because they had too much to do to enjoy the kind of childhood we had--they both grew up during the depression and had to work in order to help their families survive. Neither of my parents had the luxury of going to college or university. They learned from books and through experience, and were intellectuals in their own right.
I hoped that my kids would relate to my stories, but life changes so much between generations that Aaron and Katie probably listened with an attitude much like mine had been: "If you really were a kid at one time...why don't you understand kids NOW?"
Maybe it's because they had too much to do to enjoy the kind of childhood we had--they both grew up during the depression and had to work in order to help their families survive. Neither of my parents had the luxury of going to college or university. They learned from books and through experience, and were intellectuals in their own right.
I hoped that my kids would relate to my stories, but life changes so much between generations that Aaron and Katie probably listened with an attitude much like mine had been: "If you really were a kid at one time...why don't you understand kids NOW?"
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Here, Michael decides to come clean about the money he's lost and Elly treats the whole situation like the lesson that it is. I got letters. Folks complained that I had made Gordon look like a thief, that he wasn't "that kind of kid!" They thought Elly should have gone to Gordon's parents and complained. They didn't know that Gordon's dad was at the pub and not likely to be home before dinnertime. They didn't know that his mom worked two jobs to make sure that the bills and the debts were paid on time. Behind every character was another story altogether--a story I had no time to tell!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Telling the truth when indeed the truth is obvious should be, well....a no brainer. Still, I remember telling some whoppers, for which I was severely punished. It was always a toss up: which will get me into deeper poo... the deed or for the cover-up?!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Of course, he would have to learn how to keep his clients coming back!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Lynn's Comments: The roller skate rental idea came out of the blue--and it set Gordon apart as the one who would likely be the most successful in business!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Aaron was well aware of what things cost and was encouraged to earn his own money with which to buy extras. Letters came suggesting that "Michael Patterson's" parents were far too strict and that I was putting out the wrong message. I was suggesting that kids work! I was stunned. I had been thinking that this was a good thing. Maybe it was...when I was a kid!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Roller Blades were just around the corner when I did this series of strips. There was still a roller rink in North Bay and it was a great place for kids and teens to go for a spirited, noisy afternoon. This focus on roller skates had more to do with my own past and memories of speed, daring, and prowess. Our awards were skinned knees, bruised backsides, and the feeling your feet were six inches off the ground, which would last for hours afterwards.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Lynn's Comments: In reality, Rod and I had a very different kind of wedding. It was his first; my second, and we both wanted a small, private ceremony. Neither Rod's nor my parents could attend, so our friend, Marjorie Baskin, suggested we use the living room in her house--as her husband, Rabbi Baskin, was going to do the honours. She made us a cake. My brother and a few good friends were there. It was a beautiful service--a combination of Christian and Jewish ritual, which concluded with the breaking of a wine glass. It was a sunny afternoon and friends were looking after Aaron who, at the age of two, was not likely to sit still. After a celebratory drink and a piece of Marge's cake we went to pick him up. Aaron wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew our lives had changed. I picked him up and as he gave me a hug, he said, "I've now got a mom and a Rod!" This, as much as the ceremony, made us a family!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Ours was a one-bathroom house and Mom resented the parade of neighborhood kids coming in to use it. She was especially grouchy if Dad had just mowed the lawn and we'd been rolling in the clippings. I remember her washing handprints off the wall, hoping to make an impression on the people who had put them there...but, vindication didn't come until I had children of my own and complained to her about the exact same things.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Lynn's Comments: My folks were good badminton players. As soon as the spring rain subsided, they'd stretch out a net in the backyard and the games began. Alan and I would go through a couple of racquets each in a summer because Dad bought cheap ones. He knew we'd be using them to whack rocks, dirt, and each other. We even tried to make French fries by pushing a cooked spud through the mesh. We lost the shuttlecocks and made holes in the lawn. We pushed each other into the net and tried to swing from the posts. Badminton was an all-purpose sport, which we kids loved...and did eventually learn to play!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Lynn's Comments: The days leading up to summer vacation never seemed to end. It was so hard to concentrate on lessons when sunshine beckoned and the bells on ice cream trucks chimed. I counted the days until school was out, but when I finally cleaned out my desk, I cried. My elementary school teachers were like parents to me and I hated to say goodbye.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Lynn's Comments: My parents took great interest in our report cards. Mom, especially, wanted to see progress in the "A" department. A pass wasn't good enough, so she'd take it upon herself to do remedial teaching--especially math, in which she excelled. She spent hours with us, drawing diagrams, using coins, and cutting up popsicle sticks, so that numbers would make sense. I was more interested in the remarks column--hoping to see "improved" or "talks less." What my teachers thought about me was important. I knew I was a pain in the wazoo, sometimes, but I hoped that my "good side" showed through!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Lynn's Comments: The kids who were eager to show their report cards, always had good ones--no F, D, or C appeared on their neatly prepared sheets. I always tried to avoid these too-good-to-be-true types. Instead, I gravitated towards the mixed-bag students who had As in the stuff they liked and a "pass" in everything else!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Lynn's Comments: The tap on the side of the house I grew up in, should have broken with the punishment it received. Alan and I filled balloons, hung buckets, and tied skipping ropes to it. We also drank from it--right from the spout. Mom managed at least to prevent one thing by telling us snake eggs were in the water and would grow in our stomachs if we didn't use a glass!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Janice was going to be a regular character in FBorFW. I was looking forward to having a rough and tumble girl down the block who would be an even match for the boys. She was named for a tough kid I knew growing up, and I hoped to explore some of my more daring exploits through her. I imagined Mike and Lawrence battling Janice and other "enemies" in an ongoing quest for neighbourhood supremacy. Sadly, Janice soon disappeared. Perhaps she came on too strong. Perhaps I bowed to reader criticism. Either way, I lost a neat character and some potentially good story lines.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Down the lane behind our house, the garbage cans waited. Every lid was a potential shield, every can a treasure chest. Eldon Avenue residents checked their cans as soon as school was out--knowing that a stream of kids would soon be tumbling by, looking for fun and mischief. After a year in Lynn Lake, none of us knew whose lid was on which can--and it never occurred to us to wire them on!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Lynn's Comments: In a neighbourhood where boys outnumbered girls (and the girls were GIRLY) I tried to fit in by being as gross, grubby and rude as the boys were. I wanted to join their club--but the initiation was: you had to pee through the knot-hole in Gary Perkins' garage. Not having the necessary equipment, I offered to spit my way to acceptance. This I had learned to do on the back porch with my dad and when the time came for my initiation, I beat Gary by two feet, six inches. As a member, I had to constantly impress the guys with outrageous acts and better my last indiscretion to prove I was worthy. When you think of it, this was preparation for jobs later on--where women were not treated as equals!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Michael has been smitten by Deanna and has heard his uncle talking about Georgia. He knows that love, whatever it is, carries a powerful punch and serious consequences--should you fall! I remember being hopelessly in love in first and then again in third grade. Nobody would have believed the extent of my "crushes" or how badly I wished the boys I liked would return my affection. Puppy love really is serious stuff to a kid and shouldn't be casually dismissed!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Lynn's Comments: When this strip was released, I received a number of letters from women, mostly, saying that they too wanted bathtub faucets you could turn off with your feet. Whenever I travelled, people would comment on strips like this one and they would immediately start to tell me some intimate truth, some personal thing you would never tell a stranger! I heard about people's sleep habits, their food preferences, their parenting tips, their illnesses. They told me other things, too; about their fears and failures, their marriages, divorces, and family backgrounds. It was as if I had become a familiar friend who would always listen, be supportive, caring, and discreet. This kind of trust is something I will always cherish--it's the best part of having done a family's story with a bitter-sweet style.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Because of the similarities between Joan and "Georgia", Al begged me to have Phil and Georgia wait to get married until he married Joan!
Friday, May 25, 2012
Lynn's Comments: There is only one downside to having a dishwasher: it has killed kitchen conversation. Great moments can occur when people, after a good meal, enter the sanctity of the kitchen to clean up. Those who choose to do the task are at liberty to discuss anything--knowing they will be uninterrupted. I got to know my father really well because he washed and I dried. Confidences, opinions, admissions, and jokes are all part of the cleansing process now killed by the dishwasher. But, I'm still keeping mine!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Lynn's Comments: When I read this strip, I wonder how much truth there was to this statement. Did we really think it through before we got married? I think we did. Our marriage lasted for thirty-three years. It's amazing how we all change in time.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Before he bit the bullet and proposed to Joan, Alan did ask us a lot of questions about things like cohabitation, home ownership, the right to go fishing if he wanted to. One really good thing was that we had come from a very solid home. Sure, our folks had their ups and downs. They both came from very different backgrounds and were often at odds with each other, but they lived in an era when you saw it through to the end. Marriage was more than a contestable contract--it was, "'til death do you part."
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Coincidentally, "Georgia" and Alan's future wife, Joan, looked a lot alike. I had even decided to call Georgia "Geo" for short!