Wish I knew you

Every day we wake up, we get dressed, and we act on our marching orders, sometimes overzealously, sometimes begrudgingly. These marching orders come from our specific experiences, the beautiful and painful people in our lives that drive our purpose. As we move about the world, driving towards our next days, some people fade away, we leave them, they leave us, life happens. It hurts the most when it happens to a life not yet done.

People are honored through images of Ron, my best friend and brother, who was first lost to addiction and the cycle of incarceration, and later lost forever to gun violence. His face shines, holding the space of everyone that is no longer with me; friends I grew apart from, overdoses and suicides, relationships that ended, “weak ties” that were promptly cut by a global pandemic. Our lives are seasonal, our totality of experience has led us to our current paths; as we move further from specific moments, the more they make sense.