For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 04, 2019

3 weeks ago, Elly was 10 weeks along, so she is 13 weeks along now. I think she is already in the second trimester, but that’s what happens when you forgive and forget (or just forget). I am not sure how to interpret the forgiveness part of this? Is she forgiving John or her children?

way to walk in at the inopportune time, John

It takes 2, it always has and probably always will.

She may forgive, but she’ll never let John forget. ;-)

Elizabeth’s eyes look weird in the last panel.

I remember receiving ‘David, We’re Pregnant’ (by Lynn) for a gift when I was expecting.

It was a very funny, truthful look at pregnancy.

But yes, we do tend to forget. If we didn’t, the world would be full of only children!

While both of my pregnancies were fairly easy, I clearly remember being SO glad when the nausea was gone. While it was low-grade (it didn’t cause me to barf), I did have morning, noon, and night “morning sickness”. However, once it was gone, I loved being pregnant! I never felt more beautiful than then.

Brace yourself, John.

That’s why some children have siblings.

The body doesn’t totally forgive and forget. All the wonders, joys, aches, and physical adjustments it makes quickly come back. And since each time your body reacts differently, you need to read to figure out what is happening this time. 7 months of nausea, almost no nausea, no sleep, almost 24 hours a day sleep, gestational diabetes, anemia…It helps to learn as much as you can about “this one” because they don’t make carbon copy children or pregnancies.

Never forget

My Mom used to say that “I forgive but I never forget what I forgave.” I am thinking that is what I do. The whole ‘same mistake twice’ thing.

It is understandable why Elly does not have much energy. Grabbing an obnoxious punk by the throat can be tiring.

Each pregnancy is different. I had three children and 10 years separated #2 from #3. Though I remembered what the first two were like, neither of them were like the last. The first two were different from each other as well. Looking in a book for a bit of guidance would have given me some comfort, but I had no such book.

It was not consensual?

The bible tells us to forgive, but nowhere does it tell us to forget. In fact, the only thing it says about forgetting sins is that God deliberately forgets our sins (as far as the east is from the west) when we accept His Son as our savior.

That being said, why would Elly need to forgive anything. An hour of pleasure with her husband is nothing to forgive. The forgetting part I understand. If women remembered exactly what they went through to give birth, they would never do it again.

Lynn’s Comments:

As Elly became rounded, I became more and more preoccupied with how she looked and how she felt. I began to feel what she was feeling, and had to keep reminding myself that this was happening in the comic strip and not to me.

One of the curses visited upon all women for Eve’s transgression. Or rather how it is worked out in their mythology.

My mama had 9 kids. When one of my sisters-in-law was in labor with my nephew, she asked Mom, “How did you stand this 9 times?!” Mom said, “Well, you forget between times. Although it’s okay if you want to remember better than I did!” I thought that was funny, and a good answer.