   Current Post On Trae’s Blog:
My grandmother died last night. This wasn't a shock or a surprise. Her health has been on the decline, and she's been in hospice for the last month. She lived a long life, and in her final days she was surrounded by her three adult children.
My grandma was a kind woman. She wasn't perfect, but I always felt loved in her presence. She was a retired kindergarten teacher, and was still working when I was a kid. I have so many happy memories sitting at her kitchen table, and I'm going to carry those with me for the rest of my life. She was also proof that anyone who claims that you get more conservative as you get older is full of shit, because she certainly didn't.
I think it's interesting how the body processes grief sometimes. I don't know that I'll cry, but over the past month, knowing this was coming, I've felt a tension in my gut. Now that she's passed, instead of relief that tension is replaced by a sense of emptiness. That something is missing that should still be there. Something has been taken away, and I feel it.
Of course, as I wrote that, I immediately started crying... so I guess my body processes grief in pretty ordinary ways too.
I wanted to come up with something profound linking this to Beltane, which we sit in the middle of right now, but it just seemed hackneyed. Like I was trying to dig out some greater significance when the truth is death comes whenever it wants. The only predictable thing about it is that it's the end of all of our journeys. I hope that when I pass I'm so lucky to have lived such a long life with people that I love around me in my final days.
For the record, I will be fine. I just needed to get these words out while they were still in my head. I don't have some rousing conclusion or deep insight to tack on here at the end, just that gut feeling that something is missing.
Because it is.
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But if we insist on knowing where they come from, then Trae would have to draw purses. Or something.
The fact that no one (except Lynn) ever seems to carry a bag or purse is the most telling indicator that this comic is drawn by someone who has lived their whole life wearing dude pants. 😛
I always just assumed concealed staple holsters hidden in the small of the back. In a cool climate, your sweater or vest covers it, but still permits a fairly quick draw, and the holster permits the attachment of reloader clips.
Or, they could be buying matched pairs of dueling staplers, carried into the meeting by their seconds, but that would be crazy.
I figured it was just the holdout staplers concealed with tape under the edge of the table, but maybe that’s just me.
I figured Sarah kept them in the ears of her hat.
That’s not strictly true–I never gave it a thought until this strip brought it up, then I figured she kept them in the ears of her hat.
I always assumed almost everyone had backpacks that were just offscreen. It IS largely at a college.