Legacy

My Mom

you get stoned
say you’re proud
say you’re sorry
say I’m beautiful

I believe you
motherhood cuts deep
your scars shine

like mine

My Daughter

you’ve inherited broken glass
jagged-edged shattered dreams
that are not yours

I tried smoothing them
with cold ocean waves
deep muddy lake dives
but they still cut

you don’t believe me
because fresh wounds sting
lines etched into softness
but I see you

I’m proud of you
I’m sorry
you are beautiful

Mother’s Day isn’t an easy day for many, but I hope today you find solace in knowing motherhood binds us more than separates us. We all come from birth. We all are broken. We are all doing our best. May you find a piece of love to hold today and every day.

“We’re all ghosts. We all carry, inside us, people who came before us.”
-Liam Callanan

I’ve been thinking a lot about my grandmothers lately. Both of them were strong ladies filled with secrets and heartache. Neither of them lived a happy and fulfilled life. They passed onto me a restlessness and a sharp sadness I feel in my bones.

I don’t have a place to visit them, so for our photography lesson today I took my daughter and mother to our small local cemetery. It was a peaceful morning and I walked around thinking about what legacy I will leave my children. How do I want them to remember me?

I keep coming back to the idea that they need to see me happy. It’s by far the greatest gift I can give them—a legacy of peacefulness and joy. They need to see me publish my book, be active and strong, and cultivate my own happiness. I want to leave them a legacy far different than the one passed onto me. I have work to do.

It’s not my photography day, but I want to share these photos with you anyway. I edited them boldly, exaggerating the colors, and I hope you find something interesting in them.