This year has been a remarkable experience. Every single step has been a learning experience in some way. I’ve grown as much as my characters have. All of us have come a long way. So, I think we’ll keep this train going, and see where it takes us. Sound good to y’all?

Good. Glad you’re still on board, because I really want to thank all of you for reading and sharing this comic. It means the world to me that you are all enjoying this story. I know, at times, it veers away from the retail/service industry world, but that world is made up of the people we follow. They lead their own lives separate from their work spaces. They have dreams, longings, interests. They count the hours until they can leave the store and go home to enjoy anything else. So, those stories belong in this comic just as much as anything else, in my opinion (not that anyone else actually has an opinion that this is bad or shouldn’t be in the comic; I just felt some clarity was a positive).

I decided to celebrate this today, since the comic began in late August of last year, but I wasn’t entirely sure when due to a change in website template from blog to comic. Good job, me…not. So often it has felt like one stumble forward, two steps back in making this comic. I’m still finding my legs, but there has been great progress, I think. I hope to stretch my legs a little more in Year 2 and take more risks in the art. Or I might chicken out, and stick with my comfort zone. I dunno. We’ll see what happens.

I want to say a special thank you to the girlfriend, without whose help all of this would’ve been impossible, as well as to my family and friends for their support. They are my rocks.

Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and for taking this journey with me. From all of us here at Observations in Retail, thank you, and let’s have an even better second year!