Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for October 15, 2021

You mean you wanted to know if the Stork delivered you.

Well maybe some backstory is in the offing. I would welcome some from the Begnito family!

Now’s the time to ask.

Mary Lou walked into the kitchen when she notices her parents sitting at the table looking upset. She asks,

“What’s wrong?”

Dad: “There is something we need to tell you Mary Lou.”

Mary Lou: “What is it?”

Mother: " You’re adopted."

Mary Lou: “I knew that, tell me something I don’t know.”

Mother: " I’m not a woman."

Finally Mary Lou is asking something about her mother!

Oops!

Mary Lou doesn’t seem to respect her father much. Or it is just the way it seems. I never really had parents so I guess I will never have the experience of family or what they go through. I’m glad I am alive today.

I can relate to Pop’s sentiments, there are so many questions I wish I could ask…

“Do you love me?” “Do I what?”…“Do you love me?” “I suppose I do.”“…and I love you, too.”

(Fiddler on the Roof)

Your mother? Let me tell you about your mother… BLAM! BLAM!.

Sorry, just re-watched Blade Runner last night.

Aint that the truth?! We still step in it, even though we’re old enough to know better!

But so many corners have more than four points…can’t be sure everyone makes the same turn. And of course our good artists keep us guessing.

I have NO idea what these people are talking about.

I wish my Dad was around for the same reasons…..

so many questions we dont think to ask when we are young that nag at us when we are old with no one left to answer them. I am writing down all the history I can gather for my children and labelling photos- what frustration being left wondering who that dude in the picture so carefully saved might be. this now generation with phones and facebook will not face these problems-perhaps the opposite, an overload too vast to harvest.

One of the few regrets in my life is that I didn’t talk to my parents and grandparents about the times in which they lived.

Lord how I hate to step in it! Gads! Well, here we go…

And thereby hangs a tale.

The ex-Mrs. Benito has been referenced…twice since Mary Lou was re-introduced into the strip in 2008. This has been a long time in waiting.

I am glad Gus still has his cigars.

I started asking my mother about things but not early enough for when she died there were no more answers.

I had been asked ‘what was my mother’s maiden name’? I had no idea!! Then I remembered my grand-aunt (whom I had lived with for some time) had to sign some document with her FULL name. She wrote out her maiden name and since she was my grandfather’s sister, his daughter was my mother…. Elementary, my dear Watson. LOL

Things change with the years. I thought of something I really wished I had asked my father. Then I forgot it. Now I really wish I could remember it.

Yeah, now I think about questions I should have asked. Sheesh!