July 25th - 13:25

Title: July 25th - 13:25 Medium: Super-8 film Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Resolution: 2880 x 2160 File Type: H.264 Codec / MP4. Comments: The sun was shining and the weather was sweet. The birds were chirping and Jaxon was barking. It was our second day at my families home in Holbrook. The pool was the place that my family and friends gathered every summer, it was the space that brought us together. Enjoying the the sunshine and the Italian pop music my dad was playing on his old radio. My sister Marisa came by to hangout with us for a while. She liked to tan in the backyard while we were smoking joints and playing with the dog. She would always give us the look of disproval when we lit another one up. Saying that Jaxon was getting sick from the weed smoke, but I think it was because he was drinking the chlorine from the pool. Sibling rivalry's is a real thing but at the end of the day it was all love. Just a funny way of showing how we care for each other. I brought out my camera's and asked Marisa to stand by my mother's angels in the garden. My mom loved decorating the lawn with little angels all over the house, inside and out. Symbols of protection and guidance, growth and fortitude. Standing over the pink rose bush that grew new flowers every year. My sister reminded me of the energy of my mother so I wanted to honor her memory by having her spirit encapsulated by the arch-angel, Gabriel. The garden was a special place for our family. My mother would plant the trees and flowers, and my dad would plant the vegetables, herbs. and tomatoes. This is where love grew, fostering abundance. My sister started to learn gardening too! So she picked some of the tomatoes for a pasta sauce my dad was cooking up in the kitchen while we were making art in the backyard. I love my sister, no matter how far apart we are in the world. For everything we've been through. We still have one another, a family grown stronger. And at the end of the day I think that's all that matters. The glue for the family is to stay true. To oneself and each other. Through the good and the bad, thats just how life is. Because the only people who truly care for your well being are those who share your blood. No matter how old we get I will be her little brother and she will be my big sister. I know I have been gone for a while. Leaving Long Island for the big city when I was 17 years old to goto college. Which was a first for my family, until Marisa studied to become a doctor herself. I am proud of how she grown up into the woman she is now. She was the main caretaker for my mother while I was at school. My mothers only wish was for me to do my best and fulfill her dream of me to finish strong. Even on her death bed the day before she passed she asked me to go back to the city and graduate. It was my senior year and I had only a few weeks left. I still regret she that she passed too soon, only days after her birthday. It still kills me today that she was not able to see me graduate. But I know each day she is with me as my guardian angel, and I carry her with me in my heart and prayers. For every project I pursue, for all the art I make. It is for mom, and the sacrifices she made to help me get to where I am today. And for my sister too. She was a fighter and an angel on Earth who cared so much for her children. So I see why my sister became a doctor, because she is a healer who helps saves peoples lives because Marisa and I just wanted to save our mom from cancer. The biggest traumas become our biggest strengths. It shapes who we become and how we can give back. Healing through art, and healing through medicine. We share that same fate in different ways, thats hard to communicate. I love my sister, Marisa, and am proud to be her brother. It's a blessing to create together. From Every Day is a Gift, the only project my entire family is in. Mom, Dad, Marisa, and me. Celebrating birthdays, celebrating life. A lesson my mother passed onto me. Then Smoke and Mirrors, as the 3 of Swords. My father is hidden in the background behind the kitchen door and Jaxons spotty booty in the front. She is a spiritual warrior. And here we are today, to include you in the Moments of the Unknown. You being you in the garden of Eden. I accept and forgive you always; Because family is forever and this is my way of saying, I love you.