6. Mom before me: an album (Part IV) – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

Skip to content

6. Mom before me: an album (Part IV)

One panel fills the page. In full color, mostly tones of wintry blue, a twenty-something Lorraine sits in a pile of snow. She has longer wavy hair which falls past of her shoulders. She is wearing a fashionable blue coat over a yellow shirt, along with dark pants and black boots mostly buried in the snow. She looks seriously at the photographer/reader, one eyebrow slightly cocked. She is wearing a deep red lipstick and her cheeks are slightly flushed. The sky is blue and there is a leafless tree in the background towards the left.
Lynn narrates, â€œWWII ended as Mom entered her 20s. Economic hardship was shrinking from view. Sheâ€™d been working for years already, starting with her first job slinging hot dogs at the downtown Woolworthâ€™s. Itâ€™s easy to idealize other womenâ€™s lives, not knowing the depth of their challenges. Looking at these photos I catch myself thinking wow, so glamorous and what swagger! They all seem to know who they are. Photographic evidence shows me that as a youth Mom was healthy, active and fit, if a little malnourished at times. What happened to render her so sickly by the time she was in her forties?â€

Another one-panel page. A young Lorraine, perhaps in her late twenties, sits on a table topped with a blue gingham cloth, pack of cigarettes, and a bottle of Seagramâ€™s 7. She is holding a glass of it on the rocks in one hand, cigar in the other, and sheâ€™s laughing boisterously at someone off panel to her right. Her hair still falls past her shoulders, but her curls are tighter. She is wearing a lack blouse with one sleeveless shoulder, a floral print knee-length skirt, and black heels. She has jewelry and makeup on, looking glamorous.
Lynn continues her narration, â€œBooze and disappointment, perhaps. Yet I love this image. My inner party girl wanted to know this Lorraine. The social queen bee. Crazy, as I was often witness to the aftermath, the tears of her clown facade, and yours truly a character in the story of her pain. What does that level of denial say about me? Girls just want to have fun, make with the medication?â€

One panel fills the page. In full color, mostly tones of wintry blue, a twenty-something Lorraine sits in a pile of snow. She has longer wavy hair which falls past of her shoulders. She is wearing a fashionable blue coat over a yellow shirt, along with dark pants and black boots mostly buried in the snow. She looks seriously at the photographer/reader, one eyebrow slightly cocked. She is wearing a deep red lipstick and her cheeks are slightly flushed. The sky is blue and there is a leafless tree in the background towards the left. Lynn narrates, â€œWWII ended as Mom entered her 20s. Economic hardship was shrinking from view. Sheâ€™d been working for years already, starting with her first job slinging hot dogs at the downtown Woolworthâ€™s. Itâ€™s easy to idealize other womenâ€™s lives, not knowing the depth of their challenges. Looking at these photos I catch myself thinking wow, so glamorous and what swagger! They all seem to know who they are. Photographic evidence shows me that as a youth Mom was healthy, active and fit, if a little malnourished at times. What happened to render her so sickly by the time she was in her forties?â€

Another one-panel page. A young Lorraine, perhaps in her late twenties, sits on a table topped with a blue gingham cloth, pack of cigarettes, and a bottle of Seagramâ€™s 7. She is holding a glass of it on the rocks in one hand, cigar in the other, and sheâ€™s laughing boisterously at someone off panel to her right. Her hair still falls past her shoulders, but her curls are tighter. She is wearing a lack blouse with one sleeveless shoulder, a floral print knee-length skirt, and black heels. She has jewelry and makeup on, looking glamorous. Lynn continues her narration, â€œBooze and disappointment, perhaps. Yet I love this image. My inner party girl wanted to know this Lorraine. The social queen bee. Crazy, as I was often witness to the aftermath, the tears of her clown facade, and yours truly a character in the story of her pain. What does that level of denial say about me? Girls just want to have fun, make with the medication?â€

Author: Lynn Von Sien
Lynn Von Sien is a graphic memoirist living and working in northern Minnesota. Lynn holds a B.S. in Design from the University of Minnesota ('87). She has been awarded an Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Grant (2021), and a Minnesota State Arts Board grant (2023). Her soon to be complete graphic memoir Snow Emergency Route is a tragicomic account of caregiving her terminally ill adoptive mom.
Website: https://linktr.ee/LynnVonSien
Tags: Graphic Memoir, memoir, non-fiction

Published On: February 6, 2024

Lynn is leaning against a wall clutching her shoulder and grimacing in pain. She calls out, “Ow! God!” She labels with an arrow that she is experiencing “frozen shoulder.”

A gray and white close-up of Lynn’s face as she is panicking: her eyes are wide and her mouth agape in a frown, eyebrows raised in shock. She calls out, “NURSE!!!"

A young Lorraine is wearing a blue leotard with matching blue tights. She is holding an exercise pose where she stands with feet shoulder width apart, arms raised to form an oval around her head, and stretching her torso to the side so she is almost at a right angle. Her mouth is open as she lets out a “Uff da…”

In gray and white, a medium shot shows Lynn staring into the distance, clutching a travel coffee mug and looking solemnly nostalgic. She thinks to herself, “I miss those days so hard!”

In the gray and white of Lynn's near-present day, Lorraine holds onto James's arm as they walk on a path from a house blanketed in snow. They are dressed in hats, scarves, and winter coats.

Young Adam is hunched over, hands on knees, throwing up: "BLEH"

Lorraine sits next to Lynn’s dad, both looking like young twenty-somethings. They are both dressed in formal wear - Lorraine in a floral print dress, Lynn’s dad in a suit and tie - and they smile for the camera.

A sepia-toned family photograph, showing five people in formal wear posing stiffly for the camera.

Close up of Lorraine's hand aggressively crushing her cigarette in her blue ash tray, surrounded by dramatic lighting and jagged lines.

Young Lynn, in full color, looks at herself in an oval-shaped mirror, smoking a cigarette. Her head is tilted slightly to the side and she is smiling with her lips puffed out a bit. She thinks to herself, "I look so cool."

A cat stands on its hind legs and stretches with its front paws sticking into a large amp. Standing next to the amp and cat is a Japanese reissue of the Fender Mustang electric guitar. The image is in black and white.

In black and white, adult Lynn stands in someone's doorway smiling wildly and holding an empty fishbowl in her hands. She is dressed for winter. She is speaking to someone in front of her.

Adult Lynn, in black and white, looks up above her, with a somber expression. Her hair and scarf blow in the wind. Snow is falling.

In a thought bubble, young Lynn makes a pancake using a Kenner Easy Bake Oven. She smiles sinisterly while pushing the tray in. Next to the batter bowl is an open box of Lucy's Rat Poison. In another thought bubble, Lynn serves the cooked pancake to Adam.

Adam as a boy throws several rounds of punches in quick succession. They are drawn as disembodied fists circling out of spiral motion lines. He bares his teeth and scowls, shouting, "Punching machine!"

Lynn's brother Adam, as a boy, wears a red vest and black bowtie over a white button-down and black pants. He has on his signature thick, square glasses. He is attempting to tap dance. He looks off balance and awkward. He grimaces.

Lynn's mom Lorraine uses a handheld vintage film camera: "WRRRRRR."

Lynn as a young girl wears a pink dance dress, with spaghetti straps and decorative bows, and white tights with the black tap shoes from before. Her hair is tied up in a pony tail with a white ribbon. Her hands are on her hips. She thinks to herself, "shuffle, ball change," "whoops," "step, ball change, step, ball change." An arrow points out that she is "mostly copying the other girls."

Lynn's brother Adam reaches into a crib and touches baby Lynn's eyes with his "grubby mitts." He says, "Open your eyes, baby sister!"

Lorraine wears a pink-orange Butterick 2920 dress and jewelry. She smiles and holds up a dirty martini. She says, "The doctor says it calms my nerves. We won't be out too late."

Lynn, in black and white, chugs from a glass.

A reddish brown building with smoking chimneys.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment*

Name *

Email *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Type in the text displayed above

Like 93 0

Snow Emergency Route