Celebrations

Well, What’s Left? is out in the world. And the tour is over. I’m so grateful to everyone who came out to support and laugh with me. We had an amazing mini museum at the Bernards Township Library and an incredible Q&A on the Upper East Side. The collection is complete, and it feels so surreal to say. But it’s also something I want to sit with on my own for a while. I have much to share, but the reflections from this journey are still being processed.

Before What’s Left? was released, my grandmother passed away. Out of the many things from her house that we sorted through was a copy of my book, Mortals, Myths, and Maybes. She was in the middle of the book. The bookmark on the poem Fetish.

When I first sent this book to her, she wrote me a letter thanking me for sending it to her. She said she loved all “the feelings” and that she would re-read it often. It’s weird to think that this is where she decided to leave off.

We were pen pals for a short time, where I learned that she loved to read. But it wasn’t until she passed that I learned she loved to write. As I sort through her writings with family members, I realize that my next project might be right in front of me. I want people to be excited to read all “the feelings” just like she was with mine.

It’s been a summer of celebrations, family, and new beginnings. This is no different. Here’s to the matriarchs of our families and feeling all the feelings.