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9 weeks in

It’s week nine, I think, of home-bound, world-ending, pandemic times. I've stopped writing. In 2018, I ended my relationship and went to Europe for nine ...
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mom holding black and white photo with me as a one year old and her as 26 year old holding headphones on my head

tech support at two

I loved music from an early age, when my parents listened to bootlegged Beatles and Boney M in Romania. There’s a story my dad loves ...
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mom and dad in 2011, close ups holding their refugee passports from Austria in 1981

violet and barley

My mom was born in February 1952 in Timisoara Romania. They named her Iboyla (EE-boy-ya). Ibi for short. Which means violet. In that era in ...
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colour picture of grandpa and one year old sister with chicken in backyard

everybody hurts

Our first first time back was in June of '93. I was 16 and at the end of grade ten. I don't remember much from ...
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old tram electric tram, middle aged woman driver, woman in shorts and tank waiting, golden hour, long shadow of photographer and friend in foreground.

out of service

My grandparent’s house is on Strada Galileo Galilei, and the cross street is Emil Zola. I’ve always loved this. I wish streets in Canada were ...
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black and white image of three people in front of a building. lots of snow on the ground and on the tree branches.

exit music (for a film)

Let’s begin at the beginning, or ending, depending on how you look at it. It’s Sunday December 7th, 1980. We’re in Timisoara, Romania, standing on ...
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This is the only photo I have that captures this moment. You can see my cousin Eva in the background shooting. My uncle is smoking on the left and that's my dad waving on the right. I'm in front with my crimped hair and goofy look.

xmas 1989 firing squad

Thirty years ago this Christmas, Ceaușescu was executed by firing squad after a mass uprising across Romania. It started in Timisoara, the city I’m from, ...
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