For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 07, 2023

Well, at least my maternal grandparents were a few states down. They stayed there to the very end.

As soon as my parents retired, they moved to a community 6 hours away, then complained when we didn’t visit all the time. :P

Sometimes familiarity does breed contempt. I’ve lost count of how many people I knew whose kids moved far away from their parents just to get away from them. But then the parents made a mess of their lives and that of their kids by uprooting themselves and moving to wherever their kids went. Almost inevitably, that does NOT work out. Trust me on that one.

I guess Grandpa is speaking figuratively. I was confused about the “driving carefully” comment as he loads the luggage into the trunk because I knew they flew from Vancouver to Toronto. (that would be quite the road trip for two elderly folks in winter!)

I moved to a retirement community when my husband passed away. Two years later my SIL turned 55, he and my daughter moved a half mile away in the same community. Now we hang out together often, but I have my privacy and so do they. Plus he’s close if I need help with something. Win-win!

Love them while you can. My mom and dad are dead, and I miss them. I still have my stepdad, and luckily he lives with us. It’s the best place for him right now.

Never know when health will turn. Went to sleep one night, woke up with horribly swollen legs and feet and have not worn shoes nor walked with pain since. That was 2018 at age 50. Want to do that big trip — don’t wait never know what tomorrow brings. ( alternate comment – if you are “heavy”, diets don’t work, drs can’t find why, esp if swollen ankles, ask about lymphedema – I had it since before age, 35 but was dismissed as obesity. Systemic Lymphedema is underdiagnosed.)

A few years before I retired one of our older guys replaced a strobe power supply on the top of a 200 ft tower. He was over 65, and retired a couple years later. Yesterday my son-in-law and I replaced the tub bearings in his washing machine.

I think we are as tough as we make ourselves in later life.

Having family close is a comfort, when you have a comfortable family. Getting close to family is a whole different matter.

Staying right where I am, too. Worked too long and hard to give it up, have no family beyond mr pheets, a few friends and a heart sister, good neighbours. Besides: I like it here, we be happy : )

I have a bad feeling about this.

Great sentimental strip today…

He wants to get home to his stash of Prime Rib and his BOXCAR…!

Nothing lasts forever.

I saw a deleted strip, which had to do with Michael being the only one in the family to fly to British Colombia and he was thinking about what it would be like being an unaccompanied minor in the airports.

Lawrence: You will be on the plane all by yourself?

Michael: Yes, my dad says this will be a test of manhood. I am going to see my grandparents in Vancouver.

Lawrence: That is too bad.

Michael: How come?

Lawrence: Because whenever I want to see my grandparents, I take the bus crosstown!

Lynn’s Notes: I decided not to release the strip on account of the joke. At the time, I was struggling with so many characters I had trouble making their backstories. I tried to think of a way to debut Connie’s parents, but ultimately decided that Lawrence never met his maternal grandparents as they died before Connie conceived Lawrence.

Drive carefully…….winter weather!

Fortunately, this strip didn’t “cross that bridge” until a few years later. However if I’m correct. ..

SPOILERS

there’s another “bridge” about to be crossed. . . soon.

what’s a SIL?

Jesus is his copilot, so I think they will be fine.

We are in our 70’s and moved one state East 12 years ago. Our son followed us a few years later and then found himself in a situation that won’t allow him to move back. All of his children and grandchildren are in the previous state, so it’s hard for him (and us), but we are grateful that he’s here.

OK, I got it. Son-in-Law

Another good story I heard about my grandparents through my father. When he came home from Vietnam, they threw him a “Welcome Home” party. (They were only parents at this time, but soon to be grandparents as one of the young women who attended the party was my mother). The following day, my father noticed a tremendous amount of food from the local supermarket. His parents told him that they were donating it to the Monsignor, who in turn was going to distribute it to the poor at the local soup kitchen. It was their way of giving thanks to the Holy Spirit that their son came home from war in one piece. That did not happen to every family in America.

Will there be future strips where Phil is pressured to “figure it out” or “get with the program” and have some kids? Here is some dialogue:

Elly: Phil, it is selfish to have no kids. Plus, you are missing out on the whole purpose of marriage.

Jim: I am not to going to live forever. If you don’t have a son then the bloodline dies!

Michael, Elizabeth & April{in unison}: We want cousins!

The in-laws had the right idea. A home isn’t a physical structure that embodies memories or a location. A home is what and where you make it and the memories just embody the physical structure and location. When they approached 80 they went through their stuff, picked out what they needed/wanted and then the kids picked out what they wanted, every thing else went to sale.

They bought and moved into a much smaller house in a retirement community and it is now their home. It is home to them. They live a few blocks away from one son and DIL, another daughter and SIL live 45 minutes away and we are only 1 1/2 hours away. Another son and DIL is 2 1/2 hours away while a third son and DIL is in the next state. Only one son and DIL are a long distance away.

That’s how it goes when your “home” changed every 2 or 3 years thanks to their elder Uncle Sam. It’s not the place that matters, it the place you are that matters.

“Instead of spoiling your grandchildren, teach them the lessons you struggled to learn. Material goods will wear out, but knowledge will never die.” -Bruce Lee

Regardless of how well you drive, that bridge will always be there……

I live in a Senior’s Community where 55+ is required. There are 260+ manufactured homes of various ages, sizes and conditions separated from town by a wall but not a gate. In a town where the median house price is 880,000 you can buy a good single wide c900 sq feet for about $200,000. Double wides are $250M to 350M, prices that have gone up a lot in the last two years. There is a huge club house and an amazing array of activities. I’m 90 and I play ping-pong twice a week. We pay rent that goes up every year. The lots are rather small, but we have four large trees and six smaller ones. Big help is property taxes are hundreds, not thousands. The location is near perfect with five grocery stores and two hospitals within four miles. We have a four bedroom place that cost $160,000 in 2019 and have been able to spend some on improvements. Not all “trailer parks” are unpleasant or a bad deal. If you are older and somewhat active, I hope considering such a place might be a help you haven’t yet explored.

I visited three places I used to live in. The first one was strange since it was nothing like I remembered it, because we moved away when I was 6. The last one was completely remodeled and unrecognizable. I would never have recognized it if didn’t remember where it was on the street, thanks to the cul de sac across from it. But the 2nd one was exactly the way I remembered it with my dad’s dream car in the driveway, a red Porsche.

Dang, how far apart did Lynn plan this?

I thought they sold the big house they lived in, not that long ago, so that could move closer?