Shotgun Shuffle Webcomic

Thank you all so much for giving me the time to finish this.

This is the companion comic to You and I, Part 1. Also the 700th comic of the series. Also the close to Chapter 6.

I’m happy to say they read really well with the music. ;P

 

So Part 1 dealt with the death of David’s wife, and the sequel deals with his son. Ellie factors into both since she’s David’s way of moving on. This goes way back to when David used to visit Ellie at her fast food job, and his reasoning was ‘desperation.’ I came up with this part of the story back in 2010, and it drew directly from real life. I also had a room I never went in. I was under contract with a company, I just relocated with, for two years. I was also under a new lease with an apartment complex. Two obligations I could not break without incurring severe and substantial monetary penalties. 
I bought both my kids, who were 2 and 3 at the time, all new furniture, sheets, toys… everything. We were in a new state. New circumstances. Didn’t know anyone. Dad was going to make this as comfortable as possible. I moved up to Maryland first. About 2 weeks. Moved an entire apartment worth of belongings by myself. Wife eventually followed suit. She stayed for about a month, before proposing driving to see her mother for part of the summer, 3 states away. I was working like a dog opening a new Mid-Atlantic Regional Distribution Center. I clocked somewhere over 120 hours one week.. so it seemed reasonable.
She never came back.

I was trapped in that job, and that apartment for what felt like an eternity until I could finally break free. I never went in the kids room that entire time. Ever. That may as well have been death. I knew I couldn’t go in there without totally breaking down. I had a coworker, Gary, who I’d talk to a lot. He told me how he was going through the same situation, except his child had actually died in a car accident. He kept his son’s room completely the same for years. Always took the anniversary off from work, every year, to mourn. Me: “Does it get better for you?” Him: “Yes and no. You just go from one numbness to another.” So I took our two experiences, and made part of the comic out of it. Now I don’t know the true severity of losing a child, but I have some experience of being lost without them. If anyone reading ever has, you have my greatest sympathies and utmost respect.

Gary, if you’re reading, I hope you’re doing well. Love you, brother.

Next post will be Tuesday, and I have a mess of Patreons on the way. I still have hours of work to complete outside, getting the house ready to sell. Most of our things are packed, and the family will be moving to Texas on June 8th-9th. As soon as this is posted I’m getting everything staged in the garage to load up. Oh, and while packing.. came across this little fella from an old apartment I was stuck in nearly a decade ago.