Moving Forward

Walking Each Other Home

Y’all–

It’s been too long, friends.

As I mentioned in my last post, my dad had a stroke in November. He’s had tough row to hoe ever since. We almost lost him to the flu on Christmas Day. And then again after a fall in April. The Coach (his most beloved nickname) has been in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation facilities for the last six months fighting just as hard as everyone who has ever met him would expect.

A few weeks ago, after a consultation with his neurology team, he entered hospice care. Our time with him in this mortal world is winding down, so I appreciate your understanding that the New Futurists has been on pause to allow me to care for my family.

Because I’m still in the midst of this experience, I honestly haven’t had much bandwidth to reflect. Time is both excruciatingly slow and terribly fast. I’ve tried to remain present for this man who was always present for me.

But just a few days ago, my bff reminded me of that Ram Dass philosophy about “walking each other home” in which we approach “life as a shared journey where our purpose is to support, love, and guide one another back to our ultimate spiritual home of inner peace and loving awareness.” I’m not a spiritual person at all, but this meditation has been a salve. My dad is very much a spiritual person, so I’ve been reading the Bible to him. Yesterday, we finished up Job. I saw an exhibit of William Blake’s engravings of Illustrations of the Book of Job when I was at the University of Virginia in the early aughts and it was a profound experience–the first time I cried in an art museum. My dad and I talked a lot about that emotional response back in the day, so it was lovely to share that book with him again.

Plate 11 from Blake’s Illustrations of the Book of Job

With Jon, we also read my dad’s favorite novel, a bit of a deep cut by Fred Chappell called Brighten the Corner of Where You Are. We’re now eating up Sarah Vowell’s Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. My dad was a history teacher and loved Vowell, so Jon and I have had some good laughs about how the Coach would be chortling at her stories of America’s favorite Frenchman. Hard recommendation on both of these books. (I swear, Brighten the Corner of Where You Are reads like fanfic about my dad’s time as a high school teacher/football coach/assistant principal.)

We’ve also been listening to Dad’s favorite music: lots of John Prine, Roy Orbison, Judy Collins, Kenny Rogers, Marvin Gaye, Barbara Streisand. His musical tastes were pretty wild. I guess that’s another thing we have in common!

And good heavens, the TV. I haven’t had cable in way over a decade, so we’ve watched a lot of BONKERS stuff, mainly everything FX has to offer. I’ve seen every Marvel movie, Transformers nonsense, kaiju on kaiju on kaiju and almost every imaginable way a car can explode. The Coach loved blockbusters as much as I do, and we’ve had a rollicking time watching trash on cable.

So as we finish up this walk home, know that I appreciate your patience, support, and kind words.

I’m going to pause paid subscriptions for a little while. But don’t worry, I have so many wonderful pieces to share from SO many exciting artists. To all of my wonderful collaborators: thank you from the bottom of my heart for your understanding and support. I can’t wait to get back in your inbox with Poe, cryptids, and more. We’ll be back as soon as we can. Until then, take care of yourselves and take care of those you love.

Xoxo

Ben Bolling

Chapel Hill, NC

5/21/2026