I Need a Hug

My parents subscribed to "The Des Moines Register" when I was a child and "The Family Circus" by Bil Keane was one of my favorite strips. It was funny, depicting a nuclear family and all the ups and downs of children interacting with each other and adults. In many ways it was another sixties simplistic depiction of family life, where the situations were amusing but never traumatic. The modern reader may look back at the cartoons in this collection and consider them quaint and in many ways they are. However, that does not change the humor or essential reality of the situations, for children and responsible parents of any era are still children and responsible parents and the dynamics of their relationships has not changed for hundreds of years. Therefore, in that context, these cartoons will never be completely obsolete.