Visiting Jordan and Sterling

I met Jordan and his sister Stephanie when I started babysitting for them around the time I was 15 years old. I’ve been lucky enough to remain close to them all this time and they have become family. In recent years Jordan moved to Austin, Texas and had a son.

I remember all those times watching Jordan run around the living room and skateboard in the drive way as a kid. Seeing him with his son just melts my heart. It’s incredible to see the boy you helped raise become a father. 

The fried avocado and blackened salmon tacos from Torchy’s Tacos. 

Putting some puzzles together. 

Bath time. 

Enjoying a snack after his nap.

Dinner at Pinthouse Pizza. 

Deciding which wheels he was going to take for a spin.

The lovely Texas sky. 

We found a little bunny on our neighborhood walk.

Playing with fingerboards just like his dad used to. 

Kitchen dance party. 

Enjoying some watermelon before bedtime.

Reconnected

This year has been strange and adapting to all the uncertainty was exhausting. I was lucky to be able to work from home but it had become extremely demanding. I was at my place all the time but between the emails, overtime, following the news, and trying to keep up with the daily chores, I hardly had any real time for myself. 

I wasn’t making as much art either. I love photography but I was mostly limited to things in my immediate environment. I love writing but I didn’t feel like I had the energy to delve inside myself. I wanted to draw more but I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired. So I returned to an old love: coloring.

It was peaceful, fun, and helped me feel like a kid again. Face down at my desk covered in pencil shavings and blasting music. That was how I spent a significant amount of my childhood. 

Some years ago I lost about half of my music from a computer glitch. Slowly I’d add songs back as they would flash in my memory. Over the last few months I rediscovered a lot of songs I hadn’t heard in years. Ones I remember singing along with my friends in high school. In a conversation with my mother I remarked about how they don’t have an oldies station on the radio anymore. That inspired me to find a bunch of songs I loved from the 50’s and 60’s. 

Senses flooded with familiar music and playing with color. It made me feel reconnected.