Watermelons Are Not Strawberries

WATERMELONS ARE NOT STRAWBERRIES is a work-in-progress, as I continually seek to better understand myself and increase my awareness of how I react to challenges related to my experiences as a mother. The photos reveal to me how uncertain and obscure my life became with motherhood. At the same time, there is an undeniable clarity in how my daughters lead the way for me to follow a brighter path as I journey through my everyday life. I have two daughters, each of whom has struggled with food allergies, and one who had to overcome learning issues. While confronting my fear of feeding my children with food that could make them sick, and dealing with my older daughter’s reading and writing challenges, I learned from them as I worked through my failures. In the beginning, it was a lonely journey focused on trying to adapt and adjust my expectations of parenting. Later, I realized I had to revisit my troubles to be able to help and support them. I let myself feel the frustration with my reading and writing issues and accept the fact that I too have a food-related health condition (celiac disease). Rather than running away from my hidden feelings or letting them overwhelm me, I’ve been working through them.