(Strip Number 4084, Original Publication Date, 23 October 1981)
Panel 1: We start things off with the adult Pattersons getting ready for bed; John's putting on a pajama top and Elly, who's wearing a cast-iron nightie and curlers is slathering on that gooey facial mask of hers. As she slathers the cyan glop on her face, she tells him "We sure are lucky, John; here we are after nine years of marriage..."
Panel 2: As she turns over the covers, she continues on to tell John's head "...and we're still happy, still together."
Panel 3: She attributes it to real compatibility.
Panel 4: As he turns over, he thought-bubbles that it also has a lot to do with the fact that he can't see a blasted thing without his glasses.
Summary: At the risk of becoming the focus of Harlan Ellison's ire, I have to say "Jinkies! Like, what a, like, great guy this, like, John Patterson, like, is!" Here's Elly thinking that John and she have a solid relationship and all he pays fealty to is inertia. There are a lot of future strips that have him paying Elly similarly left-handed compliments that insist that it's okay that she's sort of plain because he's fairly shlubby too.