My mom liked to destroy things. I guess that's why I am so passionate about preserving things.
Growing up we had a beautiful antique foot-powered Singer sewing machine and desk that belonged to my great grandma, on my dad's side. When she got angry at my dad, she broke it by throwing it down the stairs. It would have been a nice heirloom to have inherited to preserve her memory. But instead I have the memory of my mom destroying things that didn't belong to her. Oh well.
Then there was the time I eloped. I guess she didn't like that! So she burned all my childhood photos. All of them. That's probably why I value photography so much, especially old family photos. History is sacred to me.
Unsurprisingly, I went on to get a degree in art history and a subsequent degree in managing archives...
So I'm doing family research -- on my dad's side of course -- and I can't read these archives without crying because Jewish cemeteries were bulldozed over to make room for buildings for Christians. So my ancestors are now in some mass grave without markers.
I get really emotional about history, and historical ruins. From everywhere, not just my own roots. It's very tragic to me when monuments or priceless works are destroyed by violent religious zealots or ignorant war mongers who don't appreciate the worth of irreplaceable art to humanity as a whole. I cry a lot when reading history, and it makes it hard to read when all the words are blurry and I have to keep wiping my face so my tears won't break the keyboard.
3:44 p.m. - 2021-03-28