Heartwarming / Sally Forth (Howard)

• During one Thanksgiving-arc strip, when Sally and Ted are spending the holiday at his old home with his family, Sally wakes up in the middle of the night to find Ted still sitting up in bed. Ted admits that sleeping in his old room has caused him to realize that, even years after his childhood, he still can't connect with his dad, his brothers still treat him like a kid, and he still doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, and then he opines that he doesn't know what, if anything, has changed for him. Sally's response to all this? To interrupt Ted's rambling with a Big Damn Kiss that extends over three panels.
  Sally: I think a few things have changed for you, Ted.
• That same arc has Ted finally standing up to his brothers, only to inadvertently insult one that had just gotten divorced and Ted winds up feeling bad about it. Sally points out that he'd had no idea about it and that his family has him locked in a cycle of passive aggressive guilt, not keeping him in the loop and then blaming him for not being in the loop.
  Sally: You don't get to feel bad about yourself, Ted. Sorry, I'm never going to be okay with that.
• Hillary gets one to end the arc where Nona stops being friends with Hil and Faye. When Nona shows up to drop off study guides for the girls' final exams as she had promised to do even though they hadn't talked in weeks, Hil blurts out in pure motormouth fashion a combination apology/fawning that leaves everyone in stunned silence, as it's literally the nicest thing Hil has ever said about anyone else, and it's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to Nona. Faye follows up by telling Hil not to ruin the moment. Followed up the following Sunday with the three girls laying in the grass looking at the clouds, talking about what they see; when Nona explains what she sees in her usually loopy fashion, Hil simply responds with "Welcome back, Nona."
• And one showing the depths of adult friendship. Sally is planning Jackie and Ralph's wedding, which, despite the attempted hijacking by their mother, is set to be a small affair, being that it's Ralph's second marriage and Jackie is not into the big wedding idea. One day shortly before, Sally casually invites Alice to the wedding, which Alice, puzzled, asks isn't it supposed to be just family. Sally just looks at her and says "It is". Takes a moment for Alice (and the readers) to realize Sally considers her family. (Of course, they essentially wrote her out later, so there's that.)