A6
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2019
Making a good choice
Dear Annie: I had my 14th
The best day of my life came
birthday two weeks before I gave more than 45 years later when I
birth to my son. The hardest thing received a phone call, and it was
I have ever done was to sign the my son!
paper for him to be adopted. The
Many times a birth mother
entire time I was preg-
really has no choice or is
DEAR
nant, I tried to think of
unable, for whatever rea-
ANNIE
son, to raise a child, and if
any way I would be able
a loving family is unable
to keep and raise my son.
to have a child of their
At 14, I completed my
own but is able to give
first semester in ninth
that baby a loving home,
grade but had to drop out
it is a truly great thing.
my second semester.
I cried and prayed each
I still regret that I was
night for a way to keep ANNIE LANE unable to be the mother
Creators
my son, to be able to take
my son needed, and I
Syndicate Inc.
care of him. For years, I
am grateful that he had a
would look into the faces
great life with his adop-
of boys and then men to see if I tive parents who loved him, and
recognized my son. I silently cel- that he does not hate me for my
ebrated each birthday, and prayed choices. — A Loving and Thank-
he was OK and in a loving home. ful Mother
Dear Birth Mother: Your let-
I didn’t actively try to find my son
as I didn’t feel I had any right to ter is extremely touching. You
look for him, to interrupt his life, sound like a beautiful person and
or to have any claim to be a part mother. May your letter help peo-
of his life. I never gave up hope ple who are wondering if their
and never gave up praying that he birth mothers wanted them.
Dear Annie: We know that
was happy and healthy and that
he would somehow know from schools and food manufactur-
all the “talks” and “love” that we ers are cognizant of nut (or pea-
shared while I was carrying him nut) allergies, and we all can have
that he would somehow feel that empathy for those suffering from
love and not feel abandoned or these allergies and the limita-
tions it puts on their families and
unwanted.
themselves, but we have a con-
dition in our family and it is not
being addressed in public places
— obesity.
My granddaughter has Prad-
er-Willi syndrome and has an
insatiable appetite, which can
cause obesity and early death.
She is hungry 24/7 and will never,
ever feel full even after eating.
When visiting a school I am
appalled with the overabundance
of candy and treats everywhere.
Gingerbread houses at Christ-
mas decorated with marshmal-
lows and candy — a treat for
children but a torment for my
granddaughter.
I would love it if schools could
take food out of classrooms and
back in the cafeteria. It would help
my granddaughter, but it would be
a blessing for all children to place
food as an option only in certain
places rather than in the class-
room. — Empathetic Grandma
Dear Empathetic Grandma:
I certainly empathize with your
complaint and think that you raise
a valid point. However, food has
long been at the center of many
traditions in our society. Rather
than trying to do away with that
altogether, we might try using
more healthful foods.
TOMORROW’S HOROSCOPE
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). What gives the
others a right to command your time? It’s not a
“what;” it’s a “who, and the “who” is you. Your time
is yours and, arguably, among the most precious
things you own. You’ll deliberate before giving
it away.
arrived.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Where you want to
be is not so different from where you stand, but
great courage is still needed to rise up and make
the few key changes necessary to get there.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You made your
choice. Or did you? It felt like a semiautomatic
response to your environment motivated by
basic human needs like survival, identity and
belonging. Can you really be credited or blamed
for that?
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Maybe it’s not fair
that people expect more of you than they do of
others, but it’s only because you keep doing such
a fantastic job, raising that bar to new levels.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Happy relationships
seem to come so easily to some. Then again, who
really knows? Everyone has a public and private
face. The only way to really find out what’s going
on in the inside of a relationship is to tend to your
own.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Clutter isn’t just a little
mess to be cleaned up whenever; it’s a represen-
tation of disorder and wonky alignment. Cleaning
it up, even a little, will cause seemingly unrelated
and magical good fortune.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’re starting to
think of things in their broader context. You’re
seeing how they relate and affect their environ-
ment, what they are connected to and what they
cannot do without. New insights come from this
big-picture thinking.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Ask a scientist — the
act of observing changes what’s observed. You
can’t interact without influencing the situation.
But with a quiet, neutral approach, you might
glimpse the version that was there before you
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). One way to stop
worrying is to write things down. Make lists.
Make a list of things you can control about the
situation and, just to remind yourself, another list
of things you can’t.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Like an elevator
in a high rise, you have many buttons to push.
And people who push a lot of buttons are going
to have a very slow ride to where they need to go.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Because you’re so
creative, you can make sense of the illogical, find
links between seemingly unrelated things and
weave together disparate ideas — all skills that
will serve you well over the next three days.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You’re not always
inclined toward the spiritual advice to meditate,
pray or seek enlightenment. There are practical
ways to get to the same place. Anything that
helps you grow as a person also expands your
spirit.
TOMORROW’S BIRTHDAY (May 2). You’ll heal
your pain, overcome fear and create a different
sort of daily flow. All this helps you manage the
things that used to hold you back. By July, you’ll
feel so successful that you won’t crave any ex-
terior trappings to prove it, and yet they’ll show
up anyway. You’ll get family together for fun and
memory-making. Cancer and Taurus adore you.
Your lucky numbers are: 46, 6, 7, 38 and 44.