That's who I am today
Some comics about identity - and a digression about railroads
Well, it’s that time of the week when I look back through the pages of my old drawing book, the sketchbook journal I kept in my 20s. These pages feel a bit introspective. At a time when I was starting to make a new home and a new life in Calgary, I was thinking about my identity.
But sometimes I had to put those thoughts aside and get to work! Back when I was a flight attendant with Air Canada, I usually worked on the Calgary-Frankfurt flight. But once in a while, the phone would ring, and it would be crew scheduling, saying that they needed somebody to fill a spot on a flight. You had to go. That’s what happened to me, on this one evening…
One of the best things about working as a flight attendant, was the time spent in different cities between flights, just walking around and seeing new things. Here’s a sketch of a Regina sunset.
It’s funny that I happen upon this train track picture just now, because today, in 2024, I have a 15-year-old son who’s pretty interested in trains and railroad history. He’s even written some comics with me, that we published in local independent journalism outlet The Sprawl - like this zine about Calgary railroad history, and this series of comics about Calgary’s public transit fleet.
I guess I have train tracks on my mind today, because just this weekend my son led a Jane’s Walk through a historic Calgary neighbourhood, along the route of an abandoned railroad line. Not bad for a 15-year-old! I hovered in the distance and took pictures like a proud mother should.
If you are interested in Calgary railroad history, check out my son’s website!!! But, I know, I’m supposed to be talking about old comics from The Drawing Book, not Calgary railroad history.
Grown Up?
In the old drawing book, I joked with myself that I was all grown up. I had a job, I had my own place, but I didn’t always feel like I had it together. (I still don’t!)
The subject of growing up was on my mind. On this next page, I was thinking about one of my brothers and his two friends, the way they were back in elementary school. But that was just a memory. While I drew that picture, I was sitting in a restaurant with my three brothers, who were, like me, all grown up now.
Why was the subject of growing up on my mind, back then? I was just about to turn 25… a quarter of a century old. It looks like this milestone was really making me reflect about my identity.
Who am I now? What am I now? I still ask myself those kinds of questions! And maybe more so in recent months, than usual, since I turned 50 in late 2023. I’m 25 years OLDER than I was, when I drew those pictures on my 25th birthday. These days, I’m more often a proud parent hovering in the background while I watch my kids do cool stuff. But, I still hope to keep doing some cool stuff of my own, even at this advanced age! Sharing these old comics is part of that. Thanks for reading!