🖊 WRITE 🖊

I wasn’t raised religious—my father intentionally gave his children the freedom to choose for themselves—but both of my parents were raised Catholic. When I was around sixteen, I went to a youth event at a church, and afterward, I introduced my mother to that church because I wanted her to have a life(a soothing environment) beyond just being at home and working. Since then, she kept going.

As I went through puberty, I drifted away from the church, but in my early twenties, I returned—and started spending more time with my mother. I loved that we finally had more to talk about, something we could truly dive into and get lost in together. At home, we would talk about faith, pray together in the mornings, read the Bible, and go to Christian stores to find books, films, and figurines. We also went to a Christian concert, listened to beautiful Christian music at home, and watched Christian movies together. At church, I’d seize every chance to sit next to her, hold her hand, or wrap her in a hug.

So our trip to Venice came during that same season, when I was in my early twenties. It felt like an extension of the newfound safe space we had just begun to create together. I was mesmerized by all the beauty I saw in Venice.