Imagine my surprise when, after a lifetime of teaching me to keep personal things to myself, Mom insisted my drawings were the start of a comic strip for millions of people to enjoy.

Animal welfare issues have always been important to me.

Defy your own group. Rebel against yourself.

I'm more financially successful, but it just means the shopping blunders I make are bigger now.

Cathy was the first widely syndicated humor strip created by a woman. The strip was pretty revolutionary at the time not only because it starred a female, but also because it was so emotionally honest about all the conflicting feelings many women had in 1976.

Because the majority of my readers are women, I feel that one public service I can provide to them is to spread the message of regular mammograms and early detection within the strip.

The biggest change in my life is that I now have to apologize for being thin.

My dog was with me all the time. I talked to my dog. She was my best buddy. I shared all my secrets with her, but I don't think I every really tried jokes out with the dog.

All parents believe their children can do the impossible. They thought it the minute we were born, and no matter how hard we've tried to prove them wrong, they all think it about us now. And the really annoying thing is, they're probably right.

Every time I get something under control in my own life, the world provides more material.

The specifics of Cathy?s and my life are different now, but the basic life challenges are exactly the same.

Otherwise, my whole career has just been flinging myself at whatever is most overdue first and letting everything else stack up.

Food, love, career, and mothers, the four major guilt groups.

I never thought Cathy would get married in the comic strip. And I also thought I would never get married.

I have an office in my house and one about five minutes from my house. I worked solely out of my house for many years, but find, with children, that I have to be in a different ZIP code to think.

I'd love to see more equal representation of female and male cartoonists on the comics page.

I'm married, which means that instead of occasionally wondering about men from afar, I actually live with one and can be constantly astounded by the strange male brain.

In 1976 I wrote a lot about women trying to claim the right to work.

Mothers send strips to daughters to make a point. Daughters smack strips down on the breakfast table to make a point. My own mom sometimes cuts a strip out and sends it to me to make sure I understand her.

I had such a close relationship with my dog, and my dog so filled the need in my life to have children that I just wanted Cathy to have that experience.

I'm most proud of having created something that men never completely get.

My mother had always taught me to write about my feelings instead of sharing really personal things with others, so I spent many evenings writing in my diary, eating everything in the kitchen and waiting for Mr. Wrong to call.

I'm lucky that my real-life Mom has both a great sense of humor about herself and an amazing ability to slip into complete denial if the subject matter gets a little too close to home.

The specific story line that people have responded to the most has been the horror of bathing suit shopping.

A lot of married people certainly have wonderful relationships with their dogs, but when you're single and your dog is the only other living thing in your house, it's a really special relationship which I wanted CATHY to have.

The relationship between Cathy and Mom in the strip is the one relationship drawn from real life that I have proudly never even tried to disguise.

Imagine my surprise when, after a lifetime of teaching me to keep personal things to myself, Mom insisted my drawings were the start of a comic strip for millions of people to enjoy.

Cartooning is a wonderful career, and I'd like more women to get to have it. I can't think of any reason why we won't see more syndicated female cartoonists in the future.

I wanted Cathy and Irving to actually say 'I do' and be pronounced husband and wife on Feb. 5, which is my mom's birthday.

The specifics of Cathy's and my life are different now, but the basic life challenges are exactly the same.

A young bride can put on makeup at 6 in the morning and look fabulous at midnight.

When life gives you lemons squirt someone in the eye.

All mothers have intuition. The great ones have radar.

My mom moved up between Leland and Greenville when I was just a little tot.

My mom took me to see Carnal Knowledge and The Wild Bunch and all these kind of movies when I was a kid.

Depending on what day of the week it is and what time of the month it is, I'm a good friend or not a good friend. I'm more or less a good mom or not a good mom, more or less a good mate or not a good mate. That's just life, whether or not you're public.

When you are getting ready to become a mom, being in love with someone just isn't enough. You need to think about whether he would be a good parent and raise your children with similar beliefs.

I was a hyper kid in school and the teacher suggested to my mom she needed to do something with me.

My mom put me in a Pampers commercial on TV.

Mom ran the house, so we grew up Portuguese.

I love those hockey moms. You know what they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is? Lipstick.

My mom doesn't get the whole gay thing, but she loves me.

I sing seriously to my mom on the phone. To put her to sleep, I have to sing "Maria" from West Side Story. When I hear her snoring, I hang up.

My mom and dad met at UCLA when he as a captain in the Air Force and she was in her junior year.

My memory of my mom is a wine glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She was a runway fashion model, and she was quite a glamorous woman.

Mom and Dad would stay in bed on Sunday morning, but the kids would have to go to church.

My mom used to say that Greek Easter was later because then you get stuff cheaper.

I was always a drama queen. I remember playing in the kitchen, trying to get my mom to think I was dead and call the police. When she didn't, I would cry. I was always theatrical. I don't think any of my relatives are surprised.

I'm talking like 10, 12 years old. Either junior brings Mom and Pop or Mom and Pop bring the kids. I'm talking young here, not a college drinking crowd.