24 Comments

What a beautiful photograph. My compliments to the photographer. I noted the folded arms but you are fantastically beautiful.

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You are very kind, Barbara! It's funny, when I was younger I thought I looked hideous in this photo, but now—as so often happens, and as I remind myself when I see photos of myself that I don't like now—I'm not sure why I was so disturbed by it!

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This was a powerful piece. Thank you for writing it !

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Thanks for reading and for these kind words, Utkarsh–really appreciate it.

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Your photograph and essay resonated with me because my sister sent me the 1971 church directory portrait of my family and I saw in a new way (both beautiful and painful) how much she had made me into a mini-me. "In equal measure" or both sides of the butter knife, as my mom would say. THANK YOU for this beautiful portrait of how two opposite things can be real and true.

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Thank you so much for sharing, Jill. That beautiful-painful coexistence is so worth holding an awareness of, and it can also be so challenging day to day. Sending all good wishes your way.

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Fortifying as always.

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Thank you for reading, Alice.❤️

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Hope you’re on the mend ❤️‍🩹 Maud. Thank you for calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

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Thank you, Ida. Slowly improving.

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“Beautiful and painful in equal measure” is a good way of describing the family legacies that we all carry in our bodies. I appreciate your work (and invitation) toward engaging with all of it. And I hope you feel better soon!

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Thank you, Jason. ❤️

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Thanks for sharing. I hope you’re taking care and resting.

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Thank you, Adryan. ❤️

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Phew! I figured as much, but would have hated that there be any confusion. Your soul clearly shines with love. Thank you, Anne

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Thank you for your patience with my copyediting sloppiness, and for your kind words, Anne.

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“understanding how these harms and others like them reverberate across the world when they go unacknowledged and unaddressed” is why we do it. I haven’t been able to convince the rest of my family, but I hope my doing it will help. It feels like it does.

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I'm so glad you're doing the work, and I believe it does, too!

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Beautiful photo Maud.

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Thanks, Elaine!

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Wishing you and Max better health soon.

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Thank you, Marco!

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Am I reading this wrong? You support the return of the hostages, and you support the terrorist attack? Or do you support the return of hostages taken by Hamas during the terrorist attack?

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Hi Anne, I amended the post after sending it because I left a word out. I support the return of the hostages; I denounce the attack. Apologies for the confusion. Thanks for asking.

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