If I am being honest, I must admit that when another vehicle pulled off the road right after we’d stopped at this remote cemetery, it felt frustrating: I wanted the place to myself. And if I am still be honest, once I met Delfie and her husband Robert, I was ashamed for my frustration. They’d driven over from Albuquerque – 260 miles away – to put new flowers on their family’s gravesites. They were gracious, telling us stories about their ancestors and about the cemetery. Here’s Delfie gesturing toward her great-grandmother’s grave; that sort of family history-keeping is not anything my family does and our dead relatives are scattered all over the place. The idea that so many generations of her family are right there gave me a perspective that I don’t generally have.

And so, once again, the Photography Gods knew what was best for me, even if I didn’t figure it out right away.

Montoya, New Mexico
photographed 5.29.2022