Cartoon of a grandfather and grandson on a roller coaster.
I drew this for Illustration Friday. This week’s word is “perennial.”
When I heard the word, I thought about some people who may be up in years, but still love the amusement park rides. It’s always fun to see a senior citizen tackle a roller coaster. I also thought of the perennial summer traditions like county fairs and trips to amusement parks.
Sketch of a girl on a playground gesturing to be carried.
When I heard this week’s theme, I thought of the many times my daughter gestured to be carried when she was little. There is nothing that melted this dad’s heart more than to see those big eyes looking up at me with hands held high. It’s a combination of love, vulnerability and confidence that Dad would come through.
When we get older, we lose a little bit of that. Nobody wants to be vulnerable. In America, we all want to put on a facade that we are independent. But the best moments come when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to the ones we love. I had to learn a little of that this week. It is one of the best, bittersweet lessons I’ve learned in recent memory.
I drew this for illustration friday. This week’s word is “gesture.”
Cartoon of two boys and a monster dog. One boy says, “Like my new dog? I got him from some guy named ‘Frankenstein.'”
Cartoon of two babies. One says, “€œMy first birthday is next week. Talk about pressure!”
There are lots of birthdays in my family this time of year. I don’t know how we planned multiple generations to have summer birthdays, but I’ll take them. I much rather eat ice cream with my cake in the summer instead of the dead of winter. No pressure for you winter birthday people. I’ll eat the ice cream in January too, if prodded.
Cartoon of a boy with a frisbee and a dog. The boy says, “Any dog can catch a frisbee. My goal is to teach you to throw it to me.”
The dog would extra bonus points if he could throw it with his paws.