guest post by Kimberly Ho, NYU Long Island School of Medicine/NYU Langone Health
My name is Kimberly Ho, and I am pursuing my medical degree at NYU Long Island School of Medicine. “Grandpa’s Deterioration” is a reflection piece of mine and captures part of my grandpa’s aging experience. This work focuses on a short time period during the pandemic, between June to August 2020.
Making this comic changed many of my perceptions of what was happening to my grandfather. Instead of thinking of his aging as a downfall and depicting the things he progressively lost, I chose to appreciate a different way to empathize with him. When creating this novel, I found myself depicting more emotions than I had anticipated. I tried recalling the faces I’ve seen on my grandpa; others were from imagination. Additionally, coordinating the color scheme in the comic took a deliberate effort. For example, I realized that while the hospital walls were white, they must have looked mustier and greyer from my grandpa’s eyes. Through this medium of storytelling, I better tapped into the illness experience of the patient himself and recognized what it can do to the individual – illness can feel isolating. As I continue with my medical training, I will continue to practice the sort of reflection that better understands the patient’s point of view.
Thank you! I’m learning how to use drawing and cartoons to understand life and my own experiences better, and this group of drawings is a real inspiration to keep on going.
What a loving and thoughtful exploration of a difficult time.
With appreciation,
Sarah Mandel
This means a lot. I had a similar reflection when I took MK and Brian’s comic class in college. It was uplifting and humbling to have found this medium of expression. Best wishes as you continue to explore life experiences through art and comics.
Lovely. Thank you for sharing. I too am interested in visualizing issues related to old age, families and death.
Thank you! Would you have links to your work? I would love to read it and believe it would be inspiring!
Thank you for sharing this story. You told it well. The hand reaching toward the light says so much with just an image.
That is one of my favorite images in the work and I really enjoyed the process of making it. It signifies relief and hope, which was the case after my family got the phone call back and we were then able to tell my grandfather things were going to be ok. In a sense, that part of the work feels dream-like. But when things turn out better than anticipated in a challenging time, they really do feel out of place.
Thank you for your comments!