Elly: Browse The Strips

Sunday August 27, 2017

Lynn's Comments: Occasionally, I would use the strip for a personal rant. I got my point across to my family in a way that was, perhaps, more palatable than the real thing. Not to say that I didn't rant about this for real. I did. The best part of putting real feelings out there…was the response I got from readers who said how true it was. Some said they had given this strip to the guilty parties to show their frustration. I had put their and my feelings in print. Somehow, seeing a situation on the comics page legitimized it.

Saturday September 2, 2017

Lynn's Comments: Creating storylines for the strip allowed me to go back and forth between child and grownup. As Elly, I would live in the moment; talk about the day-to-day things a mom might deal with. As Michael, entering junior high school, I would become a teenager again. It doesn't take much to open up those difficult, exciting, passionate, and intensely private times. Try it. Take yourself back to grade 8 and see how much you remember. When adults dismiss teenagers as being "just kids," we are forgetting how brilliant, aware, creative and fragile we were.

Sunday September 3, 2017

Lynn's Comments: When my daughter reads this now, she'll laugh out loud–she and I can spend a full day in a good mall and wish we had more time!

Wednesday September 6, 2017

Lynn's Comments: I often used to start big projects after dinner when the kids were in bed and the house was quiet. The trouble with this was that I couldn’t stop when I was tired–I was always determined to finish the job…which might be 3:00am.

Monday September 11, 2017

Lynn's Comments: I did this. I had become somewhat good at wallpapering and offered to do my mother-in-law’s kitchen. She chose a Lily of the Valley pattern, and it wasn’t until I’d finished the entire room that she noticed the blossoms were upside down!

Tuesday September 19, 2017

Lynn's Comments: This is from my childhood. I used to lean on my mom when she was cooking and annoy my dad when he was reading the paper, and at the time, I didn't know why. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized I was looking for affection. It’s not always easy or convenient to stop what you're doing and hug your kids, but when I was a young mom, I tried.

Sunday October 8, 2017

Lynn's Comments: After he graduated from high school, Aaron moved to Vancouver. With plans to study broadcasting, he couldn't wait to go. He left home with confidence and an attitude that said, "Goodbye, no horse town!" A few weeks after he’d settled in to his apartment he was sharing with a friend, I got a phone call from my liberated son; "Hey Mom…everything’s fine, I just need you to send me something. It’s um…well…uh…could you please send me my, um, …teddy?"