In The Dwindling Light
Sara Scheeres is a writer and photographer living in London. In this project, Sara reflects on the life of her Nonna, and the lessons passed down to her via the rhythms of daily living. In the Dwindling Light, the kitchen is a place to weather life’s surrounding chaos, and pass from one day to the next. All photographs are Sara’s.
Confronting one’s own mortality. The clock ticks and Age swells to the seams. Fragile like the eggs she carefully peels. Sometimes she closes her eyes for hours, thinking pleasantly about the life she’s lived.
A life lived in many places, settling years of dust in a home that is made familiar by belongings brought over from the island where 54 years of history happened. A quiet breeze and golden drops of sunlight on Easter Monday, Pasquetta.
Routine perfected; the rhythm of a Life long lived.
Repetition of words and tradition from a mind and equally a mouth as sharp as my own.
Tough like potato dough. A circle for each year, all the chapters are visible now. The story has happened, the book is coming to a close.
Final efforts, yet effortless.
Could be any time now, she says, though perhaps she’ll live to twenty more.
I went on a trip to visit my Nonna, on the brink of turning 90, to celebrate my 22nd birthday. Between last August and this April, I’ve reconnected with my Italian grandmother, often through the food I cook, and the advices she shares.
On the phone, I told my Nonna how I felt like this was my first grown up birthday, having had the final stretch of coming-of-age as I’ve faced the challenges of independent living in this metropolis, and now working seriously towards a degree and career ambition. But Nonna didn’t like the words, so she gave me some new ones, which I wrote down.
Sono soddisfatta della mia scelta di vita, meaning ‘I am happy with the life I chose’.
As an adult now, and living closer to her than I ever have, I recognise the fragility and fortune of the opportunity to bond with the matriarch on my Mother’s side. I listen carefully to the morals she lives by, I pay attention to where she stands by tradition and the compromises she’s made to live in the modern world, and I slow down to meet her somewhere in the middle.
You can find more of Sara’s work at https://www.sarasomewhere.com.