Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for April 27, 2013

I think any time spent being disappointed is a waste, on there first anniversary he could get her a ring…

Anyone would be honored to be asked by her.

I agree with both steven malberg and ShagsCA. Enjoy that you are engaged to a great lady….the rest will take care of itself.

My wife’s engagement and wedding ring are her late grandmother’s. Doesn’t bug me at all.

SaidBuy her a ring….

For Pete’s sake, I agree. BUY HER A RING,.OR YOU DO NOTDESERVE HER! Enough said.

I think Brad and Toni should have an honest conversation together with both stating how they would really like to handle this issue about the rings. If Toni really really prefers to wear her grandmother’s ring, then that’s what she should wear. I’m pretty sure it’s the bride’s call in this issue. However, if she’s only choosing the ring to save Brad money, then Brad should buy her a new ring and Toni can opt to wear the heirloom ring on various occasions of her choosing. That would be a good compromise.

Personally, I think Brad is worrying about this issue far too much. It could simply be a case of nerves on his part due to the sudden decision on both their parts to get engaged. In a month or so, both Brad and Toni will be a little more emotionally settled and can make more important decisions then. They should just enjoy being engaged and in love.

We collaborated on the design of matching custom made wedding bands and never considered wasting money on jewels.

T.J., stop stirring the pot and let them handle their own affairs.

On income.Both Toni and Brad are professional firefighters. The average income for that profession was $47,720 annually as of May 2011. That is over $95,000 per year combined. That is a great income by any standard for two young adults starting life together. I would not worry about them being able to afford anything. Brad can come up with a ring if he chooses to do so.

Left over from yesterday:

. . said, about 5 hours ago

@Leviticus

You say the couple has had no sex because Greg hasn’t told you so in irrefutable terms. Yet you can come up with this kind of drivel out of the blue.. no record anywhere of TJ shoplifting, no record anywhere that if TJ did, that Brad would not only accept it, but give it to Toni. Musta got a bad batch of smoke there….^^Actually there was an arc where TJ convinced Brad to shoplift some VERY expensive perfume, to try to impress his crush at that time, Diane.

Guys,

IT IS NOT ABOUT THE RING!!!!Let me say it once again with emphasis.IT IS NOT ABOUT THE RING!!!! It is about Toni not wanting to lose control, the control she has fought so hard to gain.

Don’t get me wrong. She does not desire “to wear the pants in the family”. That is not it at all. It’s about this strip from last month:

(Saturday 3/16/2013)This is about her sense of helplessness when her parents died, and she was thrust into a less than ideal situation with her aunt — a situation that she had no control over. And it is about her trusting Dirk and getting royally burned in the process.

Once burned, twice shy.

She has fought hard to get her independence and control over her life, but now she is being asked to give some of that up to marry Brad.

She is scared.

Look at Shannon. Shannon gets very little love and attention from her father. He dumps her on Toni every chance he gets. So Shannon compensates by being overly demanding.

In a small way, Toni is doing the same thing that Shannon is doing. She just does not realize it.

Brad had better not blow it with Toni… it goes both ways, give and take if you will.

It was already explained that Brad could not afford to buy a ring. Some people just don’t pay attention.

Ahhh the Male Ego!

JanBicRe income.Agreed. This is not about money, as stated, they have a veryhealthy income.This is a heart issue.

Toni is wearing her grandmother’s ring out of the goodnessof her heart, and embarassment, as stated Sunday, when it came time to discuss “Who would pay” ??

Are you kidding? This has never been in question, and should never come up.

Toni needs to think twice.

Toni will always have a need for a certain amount of control. Given her past, that’s understandable. Brad can work with that and still maintain his self worth. I like the idea of buying her a ring on the first anniversary.

TJ’s thinking about helping Brad also,with a ring. This is Brad’s job. It’stime for him to be a man, one ofcharacter.

Dirk isn’t out of the picture yet. This all came about after Toni saw how happy Dirk is with his wife and child.

Stop obsessing Bwad, gee, I never would have thought that he would have gone down this mental wander. He’s got the pot of gold and he’s concerned that the path to get there didn’t travel the ground he wanted? OBTUSE

SHE Proposed.SHE Decided on the Ring.SHE Decided its Time to get Married.

WHO’S in CHARGE Here? NOT Brad. The Dude’s Concerns are WELL Taken, IMHO.

So, Brad? You two gonna go with Traditional Wedding Vows? You Know, the “Love, Honor, and Especially OBEY” bit?

YOU Might NEED it.

Brad should know better than to listen to TJ.

The main thing is….Well, you know what the main thing is.

Don’t take this so seriously everyone. As many predicted there will be ups and downs before the wedding or it wouldn’t be a story. This is one of the downs, that’s all.

I think it is foolish to consider HER grandmothers ring as a tie to Brad. It has nothing to do with Brad. She can wear it anytime she wants, with anyone. There is no connection with that ring to Brad, so why is it used to show their engagement ? Totally unrelated !

Either buy her a ring, or forget about it! Not everyone has an engagement ring. It’s the wedding ring that matters. I didn’t even have a wedding ring my late-husband bought me until we were married for 15 years! I actually wore a band that had belonged to my grandmother, and it didn’t matter. It was just a symbol of my being married. It didn’t say anything about the marriage itself, which lasted almost 30 years.

Come on Brad, grow up,give up the stupid Macho quibblesyou area going to have a great woman.but he will have to purge this and settle down, or it will fester,its all in the attitude

Just who is supposed to be groom at this wedding?

Brad should stop being disappointed and start thinking of what type of wedding band they are going to have to either replace the heirloom ring Toni is wearing or if it will compliment it. And who cares about who proposed to whom? Didn’t Brad propose the year before? He shouldn’t be so hurt that Toni decided she was ready this year.

Brad understands the current situation is superior to the previous situation.-TJ is helping Brad not bury his resentment and come to realize it’s all good.

Brad should buy the wedding rings – in a design that will compliment the engagment ring. Toni will then be able to wear her family’s ring and Brad ring together!. I was always afraid of loosing my small diamond on my engagement ring and taking it offf everytime I had a “dirty job to do” and wanted a wedding band (for practical reasons) for everyday wear (which Toni should do because she is a fire figher).

Agreed! I was thinking, that Brad should purchase the wedding bands. Mine is a narrow, gold band I have worn for 21 years. My engage,mention ring and anniversary band look great with it. It enables me to wear it at my job with young children. Yard work, etc. Also, Toni is attracted to Brad because he is NOT a macho man. It is important to talk about money issues, expectations and roles, before marriage. As lay-offs continue and more women become the primary bread winners, may men are facing this inner struggle with their bias. Brad did say no to TJ recently,about TJ needing to move out, before the wedding.

When Toni and Brad first hinted at being a couple, I sent an e-mail to Greg saying that Toni would be the worst thing that could happen to Brad. I still hold that opinion, and I think this story arc supports my opinion. Toni didn’t propose because of how she felt about Brad, but because she felt after seeing Dirk— she proposed when it became clear to her that she was never gonna have Dirk. And this whole proposal and ring thing, and the way Brad feels about it, is gonna color the whole marriage— if in fact we ever see a marriage. I suspect the TJ catering/B-T wedding will arc all summer.

I read this on the GoComics site, and at the top, I see Luann in five incarnations, showing her growth from child to present. I wonder if Greg sketched that all out for his characters before he ever started writing the strip.

Doesn’t Brad get to buy the actual wedding ring?

Oh, T.J. is going to nudge Brad into doing something stupid. We haven’t seen that before… yawn. You know, sometimes this strip is a lot like Funky Winkerbean. There’s a little hope that the characters are moving toward happiness, then the rug is pulled out from under them.

good grief, what a whiner … he finally has Toni, the girl of his dreams and he’s hung up on this petty stuff? I expected him to be over the moon, not acting like some macho “her little woman me must provide” jerk

Buy her a nice diamond necklace and some earrings for her wedding dress.

Okay, who is Karen?

My father-in-law had my rings made by the jeweler in his building where he was a watchmaker. Hubby is now deceased but I’m still wearing the rings.

“Brad’s sentiments are so old fashioned. Even so such a beautiful thoughtful woman proposed to him and he accepted! I’d be very pleased if such a thing would happen to me.”-Brad’s allowed to be behind the times. Just because he’s grown doesn’t mean he grew up exactly the way everybody else thinks he should’ve.-Give him time and with TJ’s help, he’ll overcome any doubts.

they won’t because these tow are gay

OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!!! THE POINT IS THAT BRAD AND TONI ARE FINALLY ENGAGED AND THEY ARE GOING TO BE HAPPY TOGETHER!!!! IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO PROVIDES THE @#$%&# RINGS!!!! IF HE WANTS TO BUY HER A BETTER RING LATER IN LIFE SHE CAN WEAR THAT AND NOBODY WILL NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE!!!! ALL THIS $^&%# IS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT!!!!!!

Buy a ring, take her on an adventurous date and ask her to marry you. Problem solved.

And here Greg Evans goes trying to screw this up.

I’m not convinced that Toni is totally happy with the situation either. A couple of days ago she told Luann “it solved their problem”, but she didn’t look really happy about it.

WOW! That’s the first time I ever saw TJ without his perma-smile. :)

No one else seems concerned tat SHE proposed to HIM. That is a problem that no one wants to think about. Giving up the single life is a decision that HE has to make but instead SHE made it for him by being the one to propose. Now, we already know that this is what he wants, but he has to be the one to say so first.

Lest we forget, Brad did propose. He covered with an “April Fools”, but they both knew it was a real proposal. No need for disappointment there.-14 years ago I got a call from a woman who I really didn’t know well, but wanted to know better. She was asking after my mother’s health (she had recently had surgery). Anyway, she asked me for a date. Married with three kids now. Yeah, I’ve wasted some time on disappointment that I didn’t ask first, but it is water under the bridge. Can’t go back and “fix” it.

right, because it’s totally fine for all other men to propose, but when a woman proposes it has to make the guy feel bad.

You’re disappointed Brad…? Ah… I can’t even ask someone for a date… Besides, you already asked a year ago, she simply waited a year to give the answer.