Edit 11/15/24: No update this week. I am flying back to CA. I need to make some serious progress on commissions before I do the next page (or shade the past two pages) Last night I finally painted the tombstone for Real Life Melly, so there’s that!
I have filled in Patreon supporters now and then about in-real-life happenings. In short, I had a dear friend named Bob who had Alzheimer’s. I have been helping look after him in recent years. His health took a dramatic decline in the past few months and he passed away this week.
He lived a full life, and the disease is brutal in how it robs people of their mind. He was so sweet and polite. I miss him. We’re feeling the heavy grief of his loss, mixed with the relief that he’s no longer in a state of constant pain, confusion, and danger of hurting himself.
My parents had a trip to Florida planned to visit my grandparents. They invited me and I was on the fence about going because of cost and time. As I was sitting with Bob in his final days, when he was non-responsive and could only breathe, I was reflected about other times I regretted not going to be with family for similar reasons. I have been pushing off a trip to Florida for a long time, and I felt like if I kept delaying seeing my grandparents, the next time I went to them, they might be in that state. So I made the decision that I would stay with Bob as long as he was alive, but if he died before the trip, I would hop on the plane to Florida and join my parents’ trip. The latter is what happened. I flew in Thursday night and got to surprise my grandparents. We are now at a little Airbnb on Navarre beach. I haven’t been here since a decade ago when I came to bury Real Melly at the grandparents’ house.
It is a good place to be. I will finish the recent pages when I can.