It just gives me more respect for the show`s attempts at historic accuracy.

Agreed 100% … has this even been a subject of debate? No way. That may as well have been a hundred years ago. Which is our first clue that it's going to take a big juicy bite out of Pete's ass real soon.

Still laugh at the ice bucket – I think it's because it's such a clever way to note that time has passed.

Also, someone wondered whether Betty's still in therapy and how that played out over the past 14 mos … great point. Any guesses?

thanks, anne b! this is most helpful. i am a novice in the ways of the pegi. (i strive to be the sort who lowers one's voice to a whisper when angered. btw, are you also the sort who cleans out cabinets when stressed out? i always mean to do that, but keep reverting back to the godiva liqueur

Of course, the absolute kicker for me was when the announcer said, "And now a word from our sponsors…" and it cut to commercial in real life. Loved it.

Great question, Ms. Lipp. What hit me, at some point after Don’s box appeared last season, is that Don is very much like my dad. Long story short: there was a war, my dad was involved, and at some point a box of memorabilia arrived at our family home. A letter followed soon after, saying that the woman who had kept all of these items for my father (and had raised him, from late childhood on) had recently died.

So I can posit some theories on where the feelings go. If you turn away from them, they go … away. You end up living in a kind of permanent Now, where you tell yourself that nothing else matters. But your body, with its own wisdom, keeps telling you this isn’t okay. It’s very interesting to me that my dad and Don both have high blood pressure.

And now — after all these years of denying that his “other family” exists — my dad is beginning to lose his memory. It’s breaking his heart. And mine.

On a related note, someone asked me for my secret on not yelling. Funny: my secret is my dad, who yelled a lot when I was younger.

Every time he did that, it completely dismantled everything he was trying to do. I was a kid, so I watched how this happened — literally every time. And now (I guess because there have always been children in my life, and kids watch everything), each time I get angry, I also get strategic.

I become very aware of my surroundings — who’s here? What’s going on? Who can help me? And then I just move. Very quietly. It’s almost creepy — Peggy-ish, you might say.

She’s my hero. How messed up is that?