UPDATE!

You can now see the completed version of Spy Gal & Friends vs. C.O.W. with the full color treatment by Chris Watkins! Go see!

MY ARIZONA TRIP

Going back to Arizona always feels a bit like coming home to me. I lived there for two years while serving as a missionary. It has changed a lot since I lived there, but the desert and the dirt and the decor always bring me right back to April of 1996 when I first stepped off the plane and that wall of hot air hit me. I hate the heat, but I don’t mind sweating so much if I’m in Arizona.

My grandpa died about a week and a half ago and this time I went back to attend his funeral. I brought my daughter Elora with me (Erin stayed home with our new baby and Cami) because I wanted her to both experience the funeral and spend some time with family she’s never seen before. And I wanted her to see this place that’s so very important to me.

It was the first time she’d ever seen a cactus. And a bat. You don’t think of bats being in the desert, but they are.

She was a good traveling companion and endured the eleven hour car ride well. She was a bit fidgety during the hour and a half long funeral service, but she probably did better than most 8-year-olds would in that situation. She loved Grandpa, but she didn’t know him terribly well. That changed.

I was given the opportunity to speak and give the closing prayer. I did both adequately and it felt good to do that one last thing for Grandpa. I talked about how much he smiled and laughed. He didn’t hold back on either. And I talked about how, just a few years ago, he finally took the spiritual steps he’d always wanted to and entered the Temple to be sealed to my grandmother and my dad (who died in 1996). Part of our system of beliefs is that family relationships can endure after this life. Can. It’s not an automatic thing and requires living life at a certain level of obedience and righteousness. For Grandpa to “get right” so late in his life was an amazing thing to me, an example of how it’s never too late to change our ways so long as we’re still breathing. I admire both him and my grandmother so much for being able to do that.

Fittingly, the rest of the weekend was spent in the constant companionship of family. Two of my brothers and their wives were able to come (my third, youngest brother needed to stay home with his very sick and pregnant wife) and, free of the responsibilities of home, we were able to focus only on our time together. It was wonderful.

Ultimately, that’s my grandfather’s legacy–his family. If his life can be judged in any way by those of us with less than all-seeing eyes, I don’t think it’s wrong to hold those he left behind for examination. Looking around the table Saturday night while we were all out having dinner together, I couldn’t help but think that Grandpa did pretty well for himself.

TARZAN SKETCH BY MARC!

If you can’t see this image, click here!

I just love this sketch. Marc never ceases to amaze with his versatility. My understanding is that there are no pencils behind this sketch. Marc went straight to inks. He’s a brave, fearless man. I could never do that.

Check out what Marc has to say about the sketch and see his this sketch’s process shots over at his blog!

See you on Friday with the cover to the Jerry Origin!