My Mennonite Mother by Sarah Bauman

My Mennonite Mother is an ongoing project (2019-present) This project initially began for me to learn more about my Mother and her family, and to feel more connected to my heritage. This summer, following the passing of my grandmother, I decided to pick up the project again to further learn about my family ancestry, to meet more of my extended family and in the process learn more about my mother as well. After my grandmother passed, her and my grandfather’s belongings were divided between my mom and her 5 sisters. Through these objects, I got glimpses of her childhood and my grandparents and felt instantly closer to my family. Up until last year, I had little knowledge about my extended family and my mom’s childhood. Since I began this project, I have felt a deeper understanding and connection to my roots. Looking through objects, places and faces of my heritage has made me feel connected to my background in a way I had never felt previously. Coming from a big family I am barely scraping the surface, but it feels a little more tangible now and a little less distant. Meeting with my family, hearing stories and sorting through belongings has helped me make sense of my history and to feel closer to my Mom and her family through this project. Over the course of this project, my Mother and I have visited various members of my mother’s side of the family, visiting their homes to hear stories about my grandparents and my mom and visiting the childhood homes and town my mother grew up in. Through this explorative project, I am connecting the dots between the past and present, to understand my mother’s upbringing and where I fit in through archived images and objects and capturing the present.