2018 was a very difficult year for me.  I lost a beloved student to suicide, and I found myself questioning everything I do in my work, and if I do enough to show students that they are important and valued members of our community. I watched my step-father decline over the course of the year and watched my mother struggle with losing him by inches. I had to deal with struggles with my own mental health and the mental health of some of the people I'm closest to.

I made some hard choices, and I struggled with supporting my family emotionally and financially.  And we ended the year in the ER wondering if the debilitating pain in my husband's leg was a blood clot (luckily it was not!)

Yet, I found some deep friendships, enjoyed support from unexpected places.  I got to watch my girls grow into women.  I was lucky enough to have amazing support from my bosses as I struggled this year. I found joy in creative work. I had the most successful comic expo yet and made a bunch of friends there. I saw my parents (who have been divorced for three decades) come together to do something wonderful for my family because they love me and their grandkids more than they disagree with each other.

Will 2019 be better?  Maybe, or maybe not.  But it doesn't matter  2019 will be the next step, for better or for worse.  But the things that I learned this year will sustain me through the next year.  And who knows, maybe next year will be amazing.  I hope it will be.  And I hope it is for you too.

If you want to see the other projects I’m working on you should contribute to my Patreon. I am posting all kinds of stuff there, new paintings, drafts of comics, and drawings from a new project I’m working on.  Patreon supporters also get advanced comics and get exclusive content like my grown-up comic "Mornings with Cletus" which is only available there.  Also, Patreon supporters will get to see all the cool stuff I make just for fun, or to sell at places like Comic Expo.