In her touchingly funny daily strip, Lynn Johnston gives her fans realistic characters who humorously deal with both the good and bad that life gives them. Every day, Johnston demonstrates--through hormonal children and parents who aren't always right--that life goes on For Better or For Worse.   In Middle Age Spread, parents John and Elly have started to notice their own aging process: the increasing need for glasses, exercise, and computer skills. Their children are also growing older. Michael, the eldest, advances ever nearer to adulthood as he makes his way through college in a distant town, creatively managing classes, a grumpy landlady, and a special girlfriend. Daughter Elizabeth, with her contact lenses, short new hairdo, and boyfriend, Anthony, is becoming a young lady upon whom her parents increasingly rely. The youngest, April, along with the Patterson pets, Edgar the dog and Mr. B the bunny, provide welcome doses of comic relief. But Elly worries about her parents. Her mother has grown dangerously weak and is often bedridden. With heartfelt authenticity and gentle humor, Johnston's Middle Age Spread delicately describes a loving family whose life together speaks to the noble human spirit in all of us.