(note: this was actually a twitter thread that i wrote this morning... rather than copy paste and chunk this thing out to the other services... duh, post it as a rant and link it :)

I've been hesitant to post anything like this, so i'll keep it vague. Lets face it, the last YEAR has been awful. About a year ago, Sarah started to feel sick and it wasn't long before we knew her cancer was back. It was a hard year, but she beat it and we got thru it. (thread)

Things just kept piling up month after month, uncountable smaller things, losing my dad, the real fear of losing Sarah, big things, uncountable small things, things that turned out ok and things that did not... the impact this has had on my artist output has been devastating.

I've battled my way through it all, all three of us have. Jack has battled his way through a lot of difficulties to become a very solid young man who i am incredibly proud of. Sarah has beat Lymphoma for the second time in the last 12 years. I am... still here :)

I have this bad habit of putting family first much to the detriment of my own pursuits. As we've got thru the challenges of month after month of... things, i have been trying always to get back on my feet with things like, oh i dunno, DRAWING COMICS and stuff.

but yeah, i keep getting derailed, and i apologize for that. I'm sorta getting tired of grumbling to everyone about this problem or that problem that im dealing with, so lately ive been kinda quiet about things because i generate enough noise as it is.

Since the start of the school year, had a real plan to get things back on track, was working hard on it, still am. Two weeks ago i'm like, ok, here we go, lets go...

In the last two weeks my son had to struggle with something very difficult for him, on top of scrambling to catch up with school after being down with COVID for the first week and a half of school. I'm pissed off he had to deal with this, but i'm proud of how he handled it.

At the same time, Sarah was struggling with something even more difficult and troubling that has resulted in her rethinking her involvement with something she has been a part of for many years. Not fun. I've been supporting her best i can and we'll get through it.

And then i had a friend go through something devastating and tragic that i am still trying to deal with emotionally. I'm still reeling from this, and the helplessness of not being able to do anything to help.

So... i just wanted to relate that in spite of the fact that things are so much better now, that we managed to get through a really difficult year, that yes, we are actually winning... doesn't mean that things cant left hook you out of nowhere.

The hardest part of dealing with so much is when you start to get clear of things and you are standing there going 'where was i? what was i working on?'... which is kinda where i am this morning.

That's a problem i can handle. First was to write all that (which i should have just made a rant) because it feels better getting that off my chest. Next is to get online and get some drawing going, which i'm going to do now. Thank you for listening :)

...

(this is a reminder to myself that i need to use my rant space more. It is here, after all, and much better suited to my ramblings. Thank you everyone for your support, as always, and your patience.)