Good Grief
But is grief good?
Friends, I’m grieving. (I’m also aggrieved, but that’s a different story.)
This past weekend I went home to attend the memorial service for my dear friend Andrew Kosel. We grew up together in the Bay Area and stayed close into adulthood, despite the vagaries of life spinning us in different directions. He was a generous, energetic, charismatic soul who leaves behind a profound absence in his wake.
But knowing Andrew, he’d get impatient with me saying all that. He loved nothing more than sharing a good laugh. The best way to honor his memory is to do exactly what he’d do in this situation: crack a joke—
El Cerrito, our hometown, the city whose unofficial motto is “Just North of Berkeley.”
Funnily enough, this period of mourning falls right when I’m doing a series of cartoons for Memorial Funeral Home. The mischievous twinkle in the eye of Ernie the Urn is exactly the way Andrew would be looking at us—
Grief is, indeed, good. When you can leaven it with a little bit of levity.
Meanwhile, the seasons are changing. Summer is suddenly upon us. And with it, camps!—
I can’t wait to see the various skills that my kid picks up once he puts down his Switch. Who knows, maybe he’ll come back from camp so handy that he can help to fix things around the house?—
(How would you rate that joke, Andrew? Not too corny?)
Please enjoy the start of summer, everyone, and remember to share lots of laughter with the ones you love!
Here’s a great way to start—
Three bonus cartoons await just below the paywall! You can’t find them anywhere else, and for just $7 a month or $70 a year they can be yours to enjoy, along with behind-the-scenes process videos, and every exclusive cartoon that’s to come—plus the entire Undiscovered Masterpieces archive. Thanks so much for joining!
