substitute your face for his. If you do this
each time, it will get easier and, unless FAMILY CIRCUS DENNIS THE MENACE
COMICS
COMICS
you deliberately bring up the old images,
they will fade away. If you cannot do
this, you may be on your way to a total
B7
B6 obsession with thoughts that will eventu-
ally destroy your relationship.
Annie’s Mailbox
THE HAYS DAILY NEWS Dear Annie: Am I crazy, or is it
MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2008 perfectly OK these days to knock on
someone's door with a doughnut in
WATCH FOR BREAKING NEWS AT hand, smoking a cigarette? KATHY MITCHELL ⁄ MARCY SUGAR
HDNEWS.NET I am in the midst of remodeling the
interior of my home. The contractors
husband who was brain-injured while
doing these various projects come to my
serving in the military. You wonder why
door with a cigarette already in progress,
Dear Annie: I am 20 years old and God would do this to you. I compare
with the ashes so long they will fall at any
engaged to the girl of my dreams. "Liza" it to a family picture that has crashed
moment. Or they're eating the stickiest,
is beautiful, smart and very loving. We to the floor and you have put it back
most gooey doughnut they can find,
have no problems in our relationship. together with tape and glue.
without a plate or napkin. They proceed
Before she dated me, Liza dated It was very hard at first, and I cried
to do my remodeling with these staples
one of my best friends. In fact, I once and told the social worker that I didn't
of life in hand, constantly.
witnessed them making out at a party. know how to start picking up the broken
I can ask an employee not to smoke
The problem is, every time we become pieces of the picture frame. I was so
or eat in my house, but what about my
intimate, that image plays in my head. I shocked and stressed.
brother-in-law, who showed up with a
know what happened before we dated is Yes, people make idiotic remarks.
sweet roll? Does this behavior not strike
not really my business, but I feel I should My husband gets a VA pension plus
let her know what is bothering me.
them as rude? Or, should I answer my
doorbell from now on with an ashtray in
disability, and some people seem to think BEETLE BAILEY
I know Liza would never cheat on me, I won the lottery. They say, "You're so
one hand and a trash bag in the other?
but seeing her talking to another guy has lucky to get these pensions." I've learned
— Trying to Keep Clean
hurt and troubled me at times. How do to reply, "Don't you think I would rather
Dear Clean: It's OK to tell someone
I tell her something she did in her past is have my husband's health and ability to
to put out the cigarette before they enter
affecting me every time we make love? work instead?" That makes them under-
your home. The food is more complicat-
— Troubled in Texas stand the stupidity of their remark.
ed. It's rude to drop bits of edible debris
Dear Texas: This isn't really Liza's Life changes, and sometimes quickly.
all over someone's house. Employees can
problem, it's yours. She cannot do But eventually you will be able to look at
be instructed not to eat inside. Relatives
anything about the images in your head. all the good you have, instead of griev-
and friends who knock on your door
She can only be the beautiful, smart, lov- ing the loss of what should have been.
carrying goopy, crumbly food should
ing person you think she is. It's up to you — Been There for 15 Years
be told, "Wait right here while I get you
to replace those troublesome pictures a napkin." Then steer them into the
with something else. Whenever you start kitchen. — Write to: Annie’s Mailbox, P.O.
to remember Liza kissing your friend, Dear Annie: I read the letter from Box 118190, Chicago, IL 60611;
make a conscious decision to envision "Heartbroken Mom," whose son or e-mail questions to
something more pleasing — perhaps sustained a brain injury. I have a disabled anniesmailbox@comcast.net GARFIELD
BIZARRO CLOSE TO HOME
CRANKSHAFT
BABY BLUES
Daily Sudoku
PAJAMA DIARIES
To solve a sudoku puzzle, the numbers 1
through 9 must fill each row, column and box.
Each number can appear only once in each
row, column and box. Use the numeric clues
provided in the boxes.
BLONDIE
TODAY’S ANSWER
Dr. Paul
Donohue
HEALTH
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What's the difference
between heart failure and cardiomyopathy? About
six years ago, I had an ejection fraction of 26 percent. ZITS
I was short of breath. I was told I had heart failure
and would have to take medicine. The records I saw
said I had cardiomyopathy. My last echocardiogram
showed an ejection fraction of 77 percent. My cardi-
ologist said only a very few ever recover like I did. Will
I take medicine forever? — B.S.
ANSWER: The meaning of heart failure (also
called congestive heart failure) is that the heart has
become such a poor and weakened pump that it
cannot support the body's needs for oxygenated
blood. It makes people very short-winded. Fatigue,
ankle swelling and wakening from sleep to gasp for
breath are other signs of heart failure. The most
common but not the only cause of heart failure is
clogged heart arteries.
The ejection fraction is the amount of blood emp-
tied from the heart with each heartbeat. A normal
ejection fraction is greater than 50 percent. A value MOTHER GOOSE & GRIMM
of 26 percent indicates serious heart failure.
Cardiomyopathy is heart muscle disease not due
to clogged heart arteries, heart valve disease or high
blood pressure — something has directly attacked
the heart muscle. One kind of cardiomyopathy that
fits your story is a viral infection of heart muscle.
I say that because of the miraculous turnabout in
your heart muscle function. It's gone from very bad
to stupendous. Not all cardiomyopathies end on
such a happy note. Only your doctor can tell you if
you have to continue with heart medicine.
Write to Paul Donohue, M.D., P.O. Box
536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.