11photographs

her own special rendition of

i did it my way

an angel appeared to her

and threw finely chopped colored paper

about her head

in  c e l e b r a t i o n

~ monique duval

the persistence of yellow, #86

self portait in new orleans 2001

on this day

years ago

i walked across a field

up to shawn

& said

you might want to come in to take a shower

were going to get married in a few hours

we did

on a whim

and here we are…

ive missed you…

happy birthday

to barbara

the firstborn ~

who had green eyes with golden flecks

& said a wilted rose smells sweeter than a bud…

it was march

of last year

when i stopped to shoot this sign

& smell a flower blooming beneath

a young man

as he descended the stairs

of an adjacent building

called out

and how are you today?

i replied

f l o w e r y.

the most precious gift

we can give others

is our presence.
when mindfulness

embraces those we love-
they will bloom

like flowers.

-thich nhat hanh

loving 

e v e r y t h i n g

about yourself

including those little lines

that come with time

& motherhoods unharnessed laughter

portrait of a former self by elj

this darling creature

who was once so.very.small.

said to me today

mommie youre soO0o0O0Oo0o cute!

in absolute amazement

i relayed the story to her papa

questioning wherehowwhy shed say such a thing

and upon declaring 

it was soooooooo cute to him

realized

w h e r e

shed picked it up

& burst into laughter!

we do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable- worth listening to- worthy of our trust- sacred to our touch.  once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity- wonder- spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

 
- e e cummings

kyle smith painted this of me in 2002