The story behind the painting

It was an epiphany on an ordinary day. Not one big flash of lightening miraculously healing everything, but rather a series of memories suddenly connecting together. All the steps of the journey started to make sense. There was the vision of the cliffs, and the trip I made alone six years ago, and what was said when I was a child and all the repressed feelings suddenly coming back to life. Released.

There was a view of the ocean and the smell of melted butter and all the birthday mornings. The fields, the horses. And one single breath, whispering: home. I’m coming home now. Through you, to myself.

The very person I am is born of the promise one woman made with herself when she was holding a baby in her arms: that I would not lack of anything in life, and that she’d give me all the chances.

I’m grateful now. I understand. You too inherited a past, an emotional weight that wasn’t yours to bear. There is forgiveness in knowing. Mother and daughter can both heal now.