Life of Ronnie

This strip is basically true. My sister Melodie spent quite a lot of time doing exactly what Ronnie’s father describes. She was in the Republic of Georgia with the Salvation Army for some time, rescuing disabled orphans. Seriously! The whole thing was probably not quite as cloak-and-dagger as I like to imagine, but it was a pretty serious operation. These kids were suffering from the holdover Soviet policies that had disabled kids locked away from view at all times, and the orphanages that were supposed to be caring for them were doing nothing of the sort. Some were in such bad shape that they didn’t survive long enough to be rescued. After rescue, Melodie worked to help rehabilitate the children and train people (their long lost parents, if possible) how to take care of them. It was life-changing work for her, I know.

It certainly made it tough for me to continue to think of her as my bratty little sister, but I still manage to from time to time. So will Ronnie, I’m sure.

Anyhow, she’s now the Director of a home for teen girls in crisis, and I couldn’t be more proud.