The Clearwater University Student Center exterior image (which we’ve seen several times) started as a photo of a UW Lacrosse building (Street View Link) that was then modified to expand to having a second floor, add windows to said second floor, and a couple of other tweaks.
I was going for “generic college building from the mid-20th century” – so I don’t know if you’re recognizing it from the Lacrosse, WI campus OR if I’ve just massively succeeded in creating the most generic college building ever 😛
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.
About the Comic
UnCONventional is a comic that ran from December 2009 to December 2019 about the staff of a small town anime convention and their lives. This is a complete online archive of the comic.
And exactly how many meetings have you been to this year, ‘President’ Perry?
Oh, there you are, Perry.
That building looks awfully familiar…
The Clearwater University Student Center exterior image (which we’ve seen several times) started as a photo of a UW Lacrosse building (Street View Link) that was then modified to expand to having a second floor, add windows to said second floor, and a couple of other tweaks.
I was going for “generic college building from the mid-20th century” – so I don’t know if you’re recognizing it from the Lacrosse, WI campus OR if I’ve just massively succeeded in creating the most generic college building ever 😛
To me it looks a heck of a lot like the local middle school… and a fair bit like the high school… really, square brick buildings all sorta look alike.
On the subject of the comics to follow, Dis gunna b good