Benita & Manuela

Guatemala

Benita and Manuela are sisters who live together in their home in Telemann, Guatemala. Benita is blind; Manuela is deaf. We first visited the sisters in December 2017 when Benita told us she missed hearing songs more than anything. We sang for her while I held Manuela’s hand. We only had one hour to sit with them. They rely on the unpredictable goodness of their neighbors to keep them warm, fed, and clean. We’re raising money to visit them for 7 days to document more of their lives and to set up consistent care for their comfort as they live out their last days in dignity, beauty, and joy.

Dianne

Utah

Dianne is my mother. One of the youngest of our Elderwomen at age 72. It’s both an honor and a challenge to document the woman who gave me life and raised me as a woman, a human. There are moments of intense conversation as our old patterns flare up; there are moments of laughter and profound forgiveness. This is my personal journey to understand a daughter’s relationship to her mother as they both age through the archetypes.

Rosa María

Cantuna, Zacatecas, Mexico

Rosa still lives on the family ranch surrounded in deep community. Her grandson, David, and I will be spending 7 days with her July 2019.

“My abuelo lives there currently and my abuela's soul is felt and lives all over the town, and in the home they raised all their children, including my mom (which we hope to interview my grandpa about mi abuela there). My abuelo was a farmer his whole life and my abuela was a homemaker, as Americans title them. Both mastered an abundance of trades and knew about everything there was to provide a the most welcoming and nurturing home for my mom and her siblings. 

Why? With the help of Wisdom Anthologies the life and story of Rosa María can be revived and retold through a man that embodies such a true and valuable form of life—her husband, her love. While Rosa María is no longer on this earth to tell her own story, the essence of her life, beginning to end, is yearned by all her children, who currently reside both in the US and in Mexico. In January 2015, Rosa María left this world and many of her children were not present to say their "goodbyes" and listen to the last breaths of such an empowering and beautiful woman. The story that needs to be told is of a beautiful woman that resided in the same home her whole life, is at the core of her children’s hearts, and provided so much to such a small place, Cantuna. Her husband, Salome, is currently the closest person on this earth to tell her story in the most authentic and genuine way. By telling stories about how they met, stories about the family and home they created, and most importantly, who Rosa Maria was to him and those around her, the soul and wisdom of this anthology can be told and carried on for generations.”

-David Robles  

Clista

Oregon

Clista makes her own wine in rural Oregon.

Anne

Utah