For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 20, 2020

That’s the way to do it…quickly, before she has time to think and argue. Slick.

Bye, Fiona. Good riddance, but you did good in your later life, though with a few slip ups here and there.

Hope that’s the last we’ll see of her…

Belfrey Avenue. John must be struggling hard to resist saying, “I am going to take the old bat to the Belfrey.” Also, drink Bud Light. If it’s good enough for Fiona…

as my paternal granddad — who I never knew; died a few months before my older brother’s birth — used to say: visiting relatives are like fish: they start to smell after a few days

She’ll be back.

She will be back in 2 months

“I’d love to help you out; which way did you come in?”

Elizabeth is thinking, “But we are glad!”

She’ll lose her job and trash the apartment in less than a month.

Thought she’d never leave.

Well, now there will be a bat in Belfrey Ave.

The unmovable object meets the irresistible force! And she thought she was a pro…

Lynn’s Comments:

Belfrey Avenue. I loved making up funny names for streets, businesses, products and even people.

Bye, Felicia.

WHOA!! JON FINALLY GREW A PAIR AND LISTENED TO HIS FAMILY!! And hopefully he learned a valuable lesson that many of us have. When it comes to family, sometimes you have to love them from a distance.

And as for Michael, I think he should let Elizabeth do cartwheels!

My daddy used to say: “Well, I hate to see you go thank God”

In the immortal words of David Spade, “Buh-bye.”

A sincere goody-bye is a satisfying experience for all involved.

It worked! I love the way he pulled this off, and I love that it was a success, and I think it’s kind of funny that we are all almost as glad to see her gone as the family.

“Here’s your hat. What’s your hurry?”

Did anyone bother to read her backstory? This is possibly the kindest, no-strings act anyone has ever done for her and it shows in her expressions as she holds that key in her hands. Lynn created an incredibly complex character here. You don’t have to like Fiona, but it isn’t hard to dredge up some compassion for her circumstances.

And will Fiona ever pay them back? I doubt it.

Let’s see if she thinks their going to continue to pay her rent!

“Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.”

Just what Belfrey Avenue needs. Another bat.

Wish I could send my unwanted rodent houseguest to stay with her. Beaumont would eat him for lunch. How can one freakin’ mouse be so hard to kill!

Y’all DON’T come back now ya hear?

It cost them $1000 because they didn’t have enough gumption to ask her to leave.

Liz seems to be turning the page. For the next story line, I’m guessing.

Fiona leaves the house and it’s appropriate that the last thing she was doing before she left was eating a meal she made herself. While many here think she was an awful guest, the fact of the matter was that she was never treated like family by the Pattersons. We never saw Fiona invited to the family dinner and instead saw Fiona constantly having to make her own meals. She was definitely a guest who had to fend for herself, and John made no secret of the fact that he intended for Fiona to come in to help Elly with the baby, so that he and the kids would not have to. A guest who is brought in to work and has to feed herself is not really a guest. It’s just as well she is leaving, so John and the kids will be forced to help Elly with baby April, as they should have been doing all along.

Sooo glad to help Fiona out (and right out the front door).

I know this is late for anyone to see, but we fixated so much on the joy of Fiona’s departure that I didn’t see anyone remark that Michael is taking after his dad by attempting to be polite and not too happy as Fiona leaves, continuing the social politeness into the next generation.

“But . . . I was going to go home tomorrow”.