Lynn's Comments: There was so much to learn and to build. With artistry and serious focus, my husband built one of the most intricate and beautiful models in Ontario. He connected with other like-minded men, and soon, our circle of friends included Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas: two of the “9 Old Men” —the original animators at the Disney Studios in Los Angeles. Ollie's ride-on trains added to Walt Disney's fascination with model railways. After he had filled his own back yard, his wife suggested he find a piece of land where he could really enjoy his hobby…and Disneyland, the theme park, was born!
Lynn's Comments: Having Elizabeth wear glasses separated my real life daughter even more from the character in the strip. Glasses gave Elizabeth a new look and something else to worry about! Things like this marked the growth of the characters and the passage of time. In FBorFW, everyone aged and changed.
Lynn's Comments: In the first panel, you can see Elly twisting Elizabeth's hair as she is getting it ready to put into a ponytail. I was able to draw things like this pretty realistically by using a Polaroid camera. I’d ask whoever was in the room to pose for me and I'd take the shot from the angle I needed. Somewhere I have an album filled with these crazy photographs!
Lynn's Comments: After some thought, I decided that Elly's pregnancy would not only provide me with another baby character to have fun with, but I'd have nine months of "expectation" to cartoon!
Lynn's Comments: My punch lines often relied on figures of speech. I thought that Elly's fainting in the last panel here would make sense. Sometimes, readers were left wondering what there was to smile at because the gag was a bit obtuse. All I can say is that cartoonists are on a tight deadline. We have to use what comes to mind and hope for the best.
Lynn's Comments: When this story began to unfold, all of the thoughts one would have if confronted by this news began to buzz in my head. What would I do if this was happening to ME?
Lynn's Comments: In reality, my husband and I did talk about having a third child. Our son and daughter were growing up, I did miss "my baby," and we had room in our home and our hearts for another. The sobering truth was, we just didn’t have the time.
Lynn's Comments: My obstetrician said, "I believe in fat mothers and healthy babies." I took this too literally and gained 50 pounds! It was a long time before I got into my pre-baby clothes again.
Lynn's Comments: This observation about the ceiling is directly related to the origin of this comic strip. Since patients spend a lot of time looking at an examining room ceiling, I asked my obstetrician to put something interesting on his. He said, "You're the cartoonist. I challenge you to draw something for me to put up there!"
Lynn's Comments: Whenever one of the kids was feeling left out or otherwise marginalized, we declared a special day just for them. We’d go to a favourite restaurant, maybe supply a small gift. We just made a special day out of an ordinary one. Worked like a charm.
Lynn's Comments: Somebody once said that it wasn’t possible for men and women to be good friends without any "love complications" – just friends. Well, I "deg to biffer." I had some wonderful male friends in grade school, art school, workmates and beyond. The thing is to make sure your eventual life partner is also a very good friend!