Author Archives: stripfix

Tuesday October 18, 2016

Lynn's Comments: As a kid, I was on my own a lot. My folks had a gift and jewellery store, which meant that they worked all day, every day, weekends and evenings, too. It was my job to get the dinners ready. My mom would put all the ingredients together and leave a detailed description of what to do. After awhile, I considered myself the chief cook! By the age of 13, I was proud of myself for being able to make meals for everyone, and I still use the recipes my mother wrote for me then!

Monday October 17, 2016

Lynn's Comments: My job sometimes required me to work all hours; weekends, evenings, and sometimes, holidays. Even though Kate and Aaron understood what it meant to be working on a deadline, they often wished I'd break away from my drafting table and be mom for a while.

Sunday October 16, 2016

Lynn's Comments: The thing that attracted me to my husband, Rod, was his wonderful sense of humour. Once again, a true to life incident became a Sunday page. I can still hear the clerk in the hardware store laughing!

Friday October 14, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I have a friend who was forced to break away from a man she dearly loved because his children were afraid she would get some of their inheritance. It was the saddest thing.

Thursday October 13, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I have friends who live in seniors' homes, and the number of connections made between the residents is heartwarming. What I never knew when I was young is that relationships can be exciting and fulfilling and romantic at any age. Thank goodness for that!

Wednesday October 12, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Last year, I met someone with whom I have a lot in common. We have been seeing each other for almost a year, now. My children approve.

Tuesday October 11, 2016

Lynn's Comments: When my marriage dissolved, I was on my own wondering if I would ever find someone to share my life with again. When I did go out with a gentleman, I always wanted to know if they met with my children's approval!

Monday October 10, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I had fun with this story. It occurred to me that in her later years after being alone for so long, Mrs. Baird should find a loving and considerate partner. Why not!

Sunday October 9, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Another true story. The fact that this happened to me more than once suggests a rather startling lack of intuition. A night-light was installed around the same time as the offending male trained himself to kindly put down the seat.

Wednesday October 5, 2016

Lynn's Comments: A kid in my neighbourhood taunted us all with a bowl of ice cream--just the way Richard is doing here. I went home and asked for ice cream and my mother told me I should have something healthy instead. She gave me a big carrot. I went outside, chewing the carrot. When the kid came up to me to taunt me again, I spat my mouthful of pulverized carrot into his ice cream. I still feel good about that today.

Tuesday October 4, 2016

Lynn's Comments: The complex business of when to tell and when not to stymies everyone. Sometimes you're a tattletale; sometimes you're a hero. When I wrote for the kids, I could feel the inconsistency and the unfairness, and it occurred to me that "telling" is a tattletale when said with a whine, and information when said with anxiety.

Monday October 3, 2016

Lynn's Comments: This is the way I talked to my kids; trying to let them know that they hadn't fooled me. I knew exactly what they were up to and it wasn't working. From their point of view, of course, everything worked perfectly.

Sunday October 2, 2016

Lynn's Comments: What's fun about illustrations like this one is the obvious use of things used in the 80s. Here you see the old style telephone. With the move to BC from Ontario, I rid myself of the old landline phone and its spiral cord, and something familiar disappeared. I never thought about it being a relic until on a recent trip to New York. I stayed in an old hotel where the young concierge was struggling with a hopelessly twisted phone cord. I took the receiver from him, held the end of the cord closest to the phone, and let the receiver spin until the knots were out of it. The cord hung down perfectly. "How did you do that?!" he asked, surprised. I couldn't believe that a modern, technically savvy young man hadn't figured it out for himself. Oh, how times have changed!

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Some problems might have been seeping into my own marriage at the time, but we managed to keep things going because the kids were young, we both had a lot to do, and we both had a great sense of humour.