Desperately Seeking Susan: What Happened to the Doctor’s Granddaughter?

When I began watching Classic Doctor Who, it was like a whole other world.  The show – from its pacing to style to the character of the Doctor – felt very unfamiliar.  But I soon found my rhythm, loving it for what it was and how it flowed into the Doctor Who I fell in love with.  I was immediately fascinated by Susan Foreman, the Doctor’s granddaughter!  So often I’ve seen the Doctor mourn their lost family, grieving all those who died when Gallifrey burned, leaving them the last of the Time Lords.  But here Gallifrey still hung in the heavens and the Doctor was travelling with his granddaughter!  I couldn’t wait to learn all about Susan and her relationship with the Doctor.  It left me wanting to explore her character, what it felt like to meet one of the Doctor’s blood relatives, and ponder what happened to Susan after she parted ways with her grandfather.

A Life in Love – My Tribute to Grandma

This piece is my eulogy for Grandma, delivered at her funeral on 8 August 2020.  The pictures throughout are family photos and the featured image, as with many of the pictures within, came from one of our many Friday night dinners at Grandma’s.

Grandma first asked me to write her eulogy ten or fifteen years ago.  Every year or two she’d circle back around to the request, double checking I remembered I said I’d do this and making sure I was still planning on it.  I always assured her I did and I would.  But even for me, someone who writes a lot for fun and is kinda paid to talk for a living, this is intimidating.  How do I begin to pay tribute to Grandma?  How do I begin to capture all she means to me?

Jane Foster: Valkyrie – Glimpsing Transcendence in Death

The centerpiece of Jason Aaron’s epic seven year run writing Thor: God of Thunder/The Mighty Thor/Thor was Jane Foster lifting Mjölnir when the Odinson found himself unworthy to do so.  She became Thor, the Goddess of Thunder, and the stories that followed were the best Thor comics I’ve ever read.  It may be the best executed single story arc I’ve ever ready in any comic ever.  When the Odinson eventually reclaimed his title as the God of Thunder, Jane returned her focus to her civilian life, medical career, and – most importantly – fighting the cancer raging inside her.  However, her superhero career was far from over and the stories Jane Foster now finds herself in (written first by Jason Aaron and Al Ewing and now by Jason Aaron and Torunn Grønbekk) dance along the mysterious, wonderous, frightening, sacred threshold that is the dividing line between life and death.

Mourning, Healing, and Bruce Springsteen

Last Tuesday, my grandfather died.  He wasn’t sick for any length of time nor was he a sickly man by nature.  He was in the hospital for just under two weeks when he passed away so it was certainly a shock to all of us.  Such a sudden death is never easy for the family but, relatively speaking, it was certainly a blessing for Grandpa.  As the dual waves of reality and sadness washed over me, I did what I always do in times of great mourning and pain.  I sought solace in the comfort of family, friends, prayer, memories…and Bruce Springsteen’s 2002 album The Rising.