The end of the line

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, this ending was written long ago.

My last memories of Jeffrey were in the hospital. It's not a story I want to tell here, but he spent a long time going from one ward to another, and he was pretty miserable most of the time. In all the time I managed to spend with him during those many weeks, I kept thinking of how familiar I had become with the Pittsburgh Hospital system.

Between Jeffrey, his father and mother, I had been in and out of a hospital or nursing home almost every other time I went to the city for the past eight years. That doesn't count assisted living.

Jeffrey was always worried, concerned, or panicked, but he was always THERE. He would come, sit in the room, ask if he could do anything, and then just sit there some more. There was never any question that he had to be there...I don't know if it was obligation, love or duty, but Jeffrey would never even think that he would not be waiting for his father or mother to see if they needed anything, if only company.

I wanted to capture that sense of Jeff, because it was so sad to me that when he was in the hospital for his final days, he spent so much of his time alone. Everyone tried the best they could, and when he finally passed away his sister Carol was beside him, which I'm truly grateful for, but his last days on earth were devoid of the comfort and support he so often tried to give.

As I've said before, Jeffrey's life is the foundation for this story. If there's one thing I want my readers to take away with them, it's that we are not alone, and when we look for support, it is not always returned in the same kind as when we offered it. Maybe we're all a net, joined together, and if one of us lets someone slip through that net, then they are lost. Would we want that to happen to ourselves? Then, perhaps, we should try not to let it happen to others.

Thanks for reading. I'll be taking a few weeks to get my kickstarter going correctly (lord know it needs attention) and then I'll pick up the tale that starts in the Mountains east of Pittsburgh.

As we come to the finish

I am not embarrassed to admit that these last pages had me pretty choked up at one point. Not to give anything away, but if you're paying attention, you've noticed that I take advantage of one of the unique properties of sequential art in the last panel of today's page (1-118.) This is the kind of cliffhanger you could not get away with in the movies, and if you tried it in a book, you'd be accused of cheating.

I had a couple of decisions to make when I got to this point, but the ending to this story was written long ago. I hope it lives up to the rest of the tale, and Jeffrey's memory.

So enjoy the last three pages of "When Hadrons Collide" and let me know what you thought about it. The next story is already partially written, and I have an idea for the story after that, but call it vanity or practicality, I need to know that they're being read if I'm going to commit to this kind of pace. In any event, if you're reading this, then thank you for following along, and I hope you've enjoyed the ride.