Reese Covalle- I love you forever, I'll love you for always

Artist’s Statement: After reading ‘Trevor Noah, Born A Crime’, I tried to decide how to write my own memoir. Trevor talks a lot in his story about his identity, and the different things that shaped him in his lifetime. When I first think of my identity, I think of myself, but also the people who most influence me. In his book, Trevor talks a lot about his mother and the impact she has on him. Like how through everything, even his mother being shot in the head, they could still come together, laugh, and move forward. So I began thinking of my family, and the most complicated relationship was with my brother. We had had so many ups and downs, but I wanted to express how much he means to me and the impact he still has on me. No matter what happens between us, we will choose to be by each other’s sides. When trying to figure out the structure of my story, I turned back to Trevor’s memoir. In an interview with him that I watched, he talks about making his story almost a love letter to his mom, without it ever being in letter format. He wasn’t talking to her specifically, but the story he told was very much to her. So I thought I would do the same thing. I didn’t know if Charlie would understand what I was trying to say, but I did my best to write what I thought and show my side of the story. I had a struggle putting this together and making sure I gave the right perspective. I didn’t want Charlie to be seen as one sided, because like any human, he is not. So it took more than just writing things out, I had to step out and ask other opinions as well to make sure I portrayed our story the best way possible.