Please Forgive Me | 2015 - Present
After my Grandmother died, my Mother returned from the funeral in Germany and immediately called me crying. She said,
"I forgave my Mother and I hope that one day you will forgive me."
I haven't stopped thinking about her statement and request. I didn't really have the best childhood (some refer to is as unconventional), but I sure had better than my Mother and her siblings. There was no sexual abuse. There were no beatings. There was no having to steal food to survive. My Mom did the very best that she knew how. Not only that, she did better. I told my Mom that I have forgiven her and how proud I am of her. She broke the cycle. And now I'm trying to continue the new cycle; I'm trying to do better. I know that my best won't always be good enough and when that happens, I too, will ask my children,
"Please forgive me."
These photographs are a rumination on the stories of broken pasts, the existence of our present, and the forgiving and healing that happens in between. We are all trying to do our best.