This series was meant to complete a challenge to produce a creative work every day for one month. At first, my motivation was to show an appreciation for what I knew of my heritage and family history, and when I started, the project had no name.
It wasn’t until day 13, drawing the picture of the homestead, the imagined home of my mother’s youth, that I realized I wasn’t so much paying homage as I was reaching out. There is so much about my family and its history that I just don’t know. This project, then, became an expression of my attempt to reach for those fragments of my identity which I, though cherish and take some measure of pride in, have kept separate from the whole of my identity.
I want to recover the connection my parents have with Puerto Rico. I want to recover the connection I have with my parents and the legacy they are fighting to leave behind. I want to recover the connection I have with my brothers and responsibility we feel for the foundation that was left for us to build upon. I want to recover my connection to Puerto Rico.
And so, I imagined a spell that might be cast. A spell that once spoken, once recited, once prayed could bring nearer that which I am straining to grasp. I am so grateful that I had the chance to do this project and friends to fill me up with the courage to share it.
My Box of Unfinished Projects 