For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for June 03, 2013

although this is ancient FBorFW story line, we’re in Elizabeth Patterson’s prayers

For anyone who is a parent.

…. huh? How did you get from him being worried sick about her to somehow being responsible for her illness?

No John, you’re just “being a father”.;-D

How can you possibly deduce that? It simply implies he’s a worried parent.

Am I the only one who thinks it’s strange that their little girl is staying overnight in the hospital and neither of them are there with her?

SO thankful that neither of my daughters have ever needed an overnight hospital stay; other than annual checkups, they’ve almost never needed to go to the doctors as all!

I think it’s funny that this strip is available as a framed print. Who the heck would want to see this every day?!

Our middle daughter had to have surgery when she was six months old. We were in the hospital the night before until 9pm when the doctor who was doing the surgery made his rounds. He thought there was something wrong with us being there. My problem came after she came home and my wife asked me to change her diaper. I couldn’t do it, seeing the knots from the sutures!!

Every parent’s nightmare.

I think what John is imagining that Lizzie doesn’t make it. My little sister Jeannie died next to me in her sleep. It was so sad.

Back in the mid 60’s my Mom was in the hospital for six weeks, (I was 8)) and we kids were not allowed in her room!! We were reduced to waving at her in the window.

The t-shirts are available every day for every comic.

Even if they were allowed in hospital they may well have had to come home to make arrangements for Michael.

Also, as needs to be pointed out so incredibly often, THIS IS A CARTOON. It is not a biography (though it is somewhat biographical). It is not intended to tell every detail of the Pattersons’ life. It is intended for humor, and each day’s story is a SETUP FOR A PUNCHLINE.

Finally, there are some regular commenters here that only want to bash Elly and Jon, for some unknown reason, and look for any excuse they can manufacture. While they are trying to show us how bad they think Jon and Elly (and Lynn and her husband) are, they simply reveal how sad they themselves are.

He isn’t feeling guilty about something he did, he is feeling guilty about thinking about Lizzy being gone….as in if she isn’t just a little sick….I want to know why Mom is home though?

I like to see John this caring and concerned. As for parents being allowed to stay overnight, it probably became acceptable because parents would be calling the hospital all night to make sure the kid was alright.

Of course you are entitled to your own opinion and perception but I didn’t take it that way at all. Anyone who’s a parent should understand that when your child hurts you hurt. There’s a real fear a parent feels when their child has to go into the hospital for anything.

Been there, done that. She survived, as did I barely. She’ll be fine John, and so will you.

When I was six years old, I had pneumonia. My Mom was told (by the nurse in charge of the floor) that she could not stay overnight in the hospital with me. Despite that, she talked to one of the big wigs at the hospital and they decided that she could stay. Mom slept in a chair and I do not doubt that her presence played a role in my recovery. God bless parents who care for their children!

I felt the same way when my sister was in the hospital when we were kids. Hang in there, John.

I cannot imagine the darkness that clouds a mind in coming up with such a twisted thought. John was expressing every parent’s darkest fear when helpless in the midst of a child’s illness or injury.

Unless one has been in that situation, it is impossible to truly understand the helpless, and sometimes hopeless feelings that take over. As a parent, one is devoted to caring for a child. At the point in the strip, it is out of their control. I know as I had to watch my nine month old on life support and know the only options open to us were to pray and hope medicine could fight what was trying to kill him. He survived, and I have never forgotten that feeling. So many are not as fortunate as us.

True, in 1965, when my oldest son was confined to the hospital for removal of a kidney (non-functioning) there was no option of staying over night. I DID spend the entire day of “visiting hours” there (and assisted other kids in his ward when he was snoozing) – bringing toys from the play room and snacks from the nurses’ station. My MIL stayed at my house with others when I was gone (so I always returned to chaos;-)

When my daughter was just ubd3r a year old, she was admitted to the hospital for an over night stay due to a rotovirus. I slept in a chair in her room, but I know that if she had to be there for several days, I would have had to go home because daddy was in charge at home and I had to make sure that our son was properly fed. Each hospital has it’s own rules for what is allowed and at the time of the original strip, parents could be there at times other than visiting hours, but couldn’t stay overnight.

I might be wrong but, I think John doesn’t visit Lizzie because he is a dentist. He works in close contact with his patients and he could bring an illness to her. Or he could take an illness from her to his patients…. Maybe!

Portsmouth England, 1953. I was three years old and hospitalized for a few days for an ear infection. My parents were not allowed to communicate with me at all — even to say good bye! Some Mickey Mouse toys arrived, source unknown, but I was alone!

It was just my Mother and my brother. But that was very kind of you and thank you.

I hear you. My little sister never used them.