Erratic Security
Being from Jacksonville,FL, hurricane parties were something of the norm and they were in my life as well. A core memory of mine was during a hurricane in 2004 in one of my childhood homes, where my mother, my father and I laid sleeping bags across our hallway with flashlights and coloring books, enjoying our time together while the hurricane came over our home. As a child during this I felt safe and secure, with no clue of the severity of the situation and the safety risks, only now realizing how serious it was. The same goes for my family dynamic at the time versus now; while I felt safe and happy, I was clueless to my parents' struggles in general and with each other.
My family dynamic has changed entirely now: My parents are both separately married, my mom had my brother who is now 6 years old, and I've witnessed all of their separate failed relationships in-between. Strangely, my mother moved back into our old home where I experienced the hurricane, and my brother now has a completely different relationship to the same space. She grew grapevines in the backyard of this home and she happened to keep the exact sleeping bags I remember using during the hurricane almost 20 years ago now, which I've been able to use in this piece.
2022
sleeping bags from my childhood approx. 20+ years old (according to my mom), grapevines from my childhood home, wood, found metal weight
