Moving Back to Waukesha
As my high school reunion approaches, I've been thinking a lot about 1975 – the year I moved back to Waukesha.
Now done with High School, as I approach the same class of '75 four decades later, I moved back to be with my family in Waukesha WI. Everyone else in the family had moved in months earlier. I still had to stay up in Escanaba to finish school.
Once back, Shmerd (that's my nickname for my mom) had set me up with a board the size of a door, perched on cinder blocks to use as a drawing board in the basement. A bed sat next it.
During summer I had the whole cool basement to myself, and in the winter I had the whole freezing basement to myself. Soon enough, I sat down on the chair Shmerd has set up, got out a small ream of typing paper, and with a few Spider-Man and Gulacy Master of Kung Fu comics, grabbed a pencil from of my small stash of black ebony pencils, and got to work. All I knew was that I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself, to contribute to a community that felt like home.
Nearly fifty years later, that same feeling of possibility and community connection is what's driving me to continue drawing Nexus with Return to Earth.
Something unexpected happened this week. Return to Earth hit 341 followers on our project page. I keep staring at that number, not because of what it means for metrics, but because it represents 341 people who chose to believe in something that doesn't exist yet. Who cared enough to raise a hand and say, “Yeah, I’m in—show me more.” Each one is a real person, not a metric, giving us a little vote of confidence and a reason to keep pushing pages out into the world.
That's 341 individual acts of faith in my creative vision, and maybe that's why the number feels so significant—it's not about metrics, it's about people choosing to come along for the journey before they even know where it leads. (It's a feeling that was only amplified when we also hit 473 Patrons on our Patreon page this week.)
Just like moving back to Waukesha in '75, this feels like finding my tribe – people who understand that the best stories come from real places, real experiences, real community.
If you're curious about Return to Earth, you can check it out at www.steverude.com/ReturnToEarth. No pressure – just wanted to share this moment with the people who've been part of the journey.
Here's to coming home to the stories that connect us.
Steve Rude the Dude
Class of 1975, Escanaba, MI
