daily: Browse The Strips

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Lynn's Comments: My daughter, Katie and her husband, Lane, were married under a tree at English Bay in Vancouver. There were four of us in attendance, thus avoiding the dreaded wedding speech!

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Again, this really happened. When my first husband and I left our wedding reception, we found that his friends had stuffed our car with newspaper. Balls of it were tightly jammed everywhere. Before we could get in, we had to remove it all and find a place to put it. Our hands were filthy and our mood was mean. What we didn't expect was that the dust from the newsprint was everywhere, and when we got out of the car, my white wedding outfit was covered in it. Maybe they thought the prank was funny, but to this day, I'd still like to tell off the guys who did it!

Monday, August 15, 2016

Lynn's Comments: My daughter hated it when I tried to do her hair. I did bribe her to sit still. Learning how to make French braids cost me candy and coins!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Now, it's my turn. Every five years, a few good organizers make sure our high school graduating class gets together. Each time now, the "in memoriam" list grows longer. Hard to believe we are saying goodbye to each other. When we're together, we all still feel like kids!

Friday, August 19, 2016

Lynn's Comments: My daughter is the one now who does all the creative cooking. I often arrive at her door just at dinnertime--not meaning to invite myself, but happy to see her set an extra place at the table.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Nope. Phil and Georgia are still happily married. Even though the saga has ended, the characters are still alive in my imagination!

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Another true story--At about the age of 16, I went to Montreal to visit my mom's sister and her family. I was there for the summer to act as a "nanny" for my four younger cousins and to improve my French, if possible! I was happy to be going, but the crush I had on a boy in my class was pretty powerful, and although he said he'd miss me, I had my doubts.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Lynn's Comments: As soon as I arrived in Montreal, I wrote to my "boyfriend." The relationship was pretty one sided, but that didn't keep me from thinking about him all the time and writing down my feelings.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Over the summer, I sent him several letters and received nothing in reply. My Aunt Monica suggested I look elsewhere for friendship, but I continued to mope about--wondering why I had heard nothing from the love of my life.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Lynn's Comments: This is exactly what I did! Yes, if I was determined to succeed at something, I was relentless--which is a good trait to have when it comes to a project or a career. Love, on the other hand, isn't something you can make happen!

At summer's end, I returned home, and as soon as I had some privacy, I called my silent "boyfriend" and asked why he hadn't written. He said he had but the letter must have been lost. I didn't believe him. He then said he'd written one but had been too shy to send it. I said, "show it to me." He couldn't find it. He said he would rewrite it, but by then, my jets had cooled and the relationship turned into a casual "hello" in the school cafeteria.

We graduated without anything more being said. Years later, we met in a Vancouver coffee shop. He was delighted to see me and I was more than happy to see him. We hugged and laughed about the crush and the silent summer, and bless his heart, he said he wished for all the world, that he had written.

Saturday, September 3, 2016

Lynn's Comments: In this strip, I was able to say hello to both Charles Schulz and my friend, Beth Scott. Surprising friends by mentioning them in the paper was great fun.

Monday, September 5, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I have always been fascinated by nursing homes and aging, and now that it's my turn to experience the process of my own decline, this series of strips is particularly poignant.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Lynn's Comments: My first mom-in-law, Louise Franks, loved to play bingo. She was good at it, too, and could keep track of eight or more cards at a time. One night, she invited me to come along. Her advice to me as we entered the hall was, "Don't win. Nobody likes a first night winner." I guess her popularity, and mine, would be tarnished if I did!

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Years later, after a divorce, remarriage and a move to North Bay, Ontario, I was ready to do my civic duty by fundraising for the local Arts Centre. This meant volunteering to work the bingo games. I learned a lot about bingo as I ran down the aisles selling dabbers, candy, and cards.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Lynn's Comments: Dabbers and disposable cards made the game so much easier. With the new speed and efficiency, players wanted runners to be on the ball. If someone needed a new card or wanted a bag of chips, the runners had to anticipate this and literally run to the side of the player. A winning call wasn't greeted with applause (as it was in the church basements), it was a serious loss, a begrudging acceptance and a chance to start again.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Lynn's Comments: After working the bingo games, my husband and I would come home exhausted and reeking of cigarette smoke (thankfully, the bingo halls are now smoke-free). We'd immediately disrobe in the front hall, stuff our clothing into the washing machine and have a shower. We wondered how the players could survive night after night in that toxic atmosphere. Perhaps they didn't.