Saudade Photography

This is the story of my Grandma Joyce, of blessed memory, and of her legacy.

I was raised in Chicago with my Bubbe, not my Grandma. My relationships with elders were colored largely by fear, control, and shame. Grandma Joyce, though? Flouted every expectation set of her in Greensboro, North Carolina. She forged her own path as a young single mother, and faced a lot of difficult choices. She didn't emerge from Greensboro unscathed, but she did create a home for herself in Providence, Rhode Island. An island all her own - how fitting.

What Grandma Joyce gave us overshadows all of her mistakes. She taught us how to laugh, how to learn, and how to love. First: you feel the laughter bubbling up inside you, and then you enjoy letting it out with your whole entire body. Then: you listen to the people around you, creating a safe space with your silence. Finally: you hold your family close, kiss them on their cheeks, and give them every drop of love you have.

She was called back to Heaven on the same day RBG was: Shabbat AND Rosh Hashanah. Very significant day for Jewish people. I like to think that was Hashem's way of reminding us of what matters. And what matters is love: messy, consistent, all-compassing love.