Childhood Home. Picture taken in 2011
This is the home I grew up in. This is not the home where I came home from the hospital when I was born. I moved into this house when my parents got divorced and my dad sold his family home. My dad and stepmom and younger sister still reside in this house. And I did until 2021. I love everything about this home. It is not just a house, it is where I really feel the “at home” feeling. It is where I came home to from school, where I spent(spend) every Christmas. Where we all celebrated birthdays, and graduations. I love this picture, it is from google maps and you can see my Grandma getting into the car. She passed away in 2022 so this made me really happy to happen upon this while doing this assignment.
Childhood Home Today
I treasure this home, and I love it. But I did not always love it. When I was younger this was the home I associated with my parents divorce. It was the home I did not want to go to every other Sunday when I left my Mom. It was the home I was excited to leave every other Sunday when I went back to my moms. This is where we all gathered when my Grandma passed away. This is where my dad recovered from his open heart surgery, and where he had his heart attack. It holds a lot of love and happiness, but it also holds memories. And sometimes memories are not always happy.
My Dad leading my sisters and I through a maze in Hawaii, 2015
I chose this picture because I think it represents my dad well. He is the leader of our family, and we all would blindly follow him anywhere. He is my best friend and my biggest supporter. This picture is representative of the way he leads us 4 girls through life. On January 21st 2022 I had the biggest eye opening experience when I got a phone call from my stepmom that she was with my dad because he was having a heart attack. I say eye opening because my whole life I viewed my dad as invincible so to find out he wasn’t, was really really scary. This was at 9pm at night and I was alone and I got this call and I remember actually just not being able to say anything. I think I just responded with Okay and then hung up. I couldn’t do anything – I just kind of sat there in silence staring at the TV which wasn’t even on and just sitting in silence. He was medevaced to Anchorage and had to wait a week in the ICU to eventually get heart surgery. All four of his arteries were clogged and they had to do a quadruple bypass. I remember sitting by my phone for hourly updates from my stepmom during surgery. Ultimately his surgery was successful and he is now okay and healthy. I have a hard time putting into words just how much this affected me and my feelings and anxiety going through this. I remember crying everyday for a week and being terrified of living a life without my best friend. I am so lucky and happy that he is fully recovered, and is back to leading us in the right direction. I think we now can probably lead ourselves in a direction of our choosing. But he will always be there if we get lost.
My Grandma’s headstone, 2022
In April of 2022 my grandma started really noticeably getting weaker. We were told that she had about 6 months to live, it was an estimate by her doctor. A week later My dad had a hospice bed put into her bedroom. I was the first born grandchild, so I was noticeably closer to her and my grandpa than my sister. I spent everyday after work laying on a cot next to her bed and watching law and order. About a week later I stopped going as much. I think it was really hard for me to see my grandpa so sad. I couldn’t imagine the hurt that he was going through watching his wife of 57 years dying in front of him. She was the most amazing human in the world, and losing her really really was not something I thought i could handle. Eventually on May 1st of 2022 she passed away. I remember my Dad calling me to tell me. I had covid and couldn’t be with my family and her when she passed. And of course I had a month to process this, but I remember doing the exact same thing I did when my stepmom called me about my dad, I said Okay and I hung up. My grandma was my best friend, and a woman of courage as evidenced 59 years ago when she defied society’s standards by marrying her true love, rather than someone who had the same skin color as her. She was an amazing grandma and went to every single swim meet of mine, drove me home from school more than my parents did. She left me and my family with great memories of weekly Sunday night dinners. I loved showing up to her house and immediately being greeted with a hug, and seeing herring eggs, cockles, and artichokes on the table. And always always without fail she had a beer in her hand. She made her and my grandpas home warm and welcoming to anyone who came in. And let me tell you, when I say warm I literally mean warm, like a sweat lodge. The thermostat was always always on high. Even on the warmest day of the year it was actually the worst. Even in her last days, she was still as stubborn as always and never complained once.
Celebration, June of 2022.
When I was too young to remember, I was adopted into the Shangukeidi clan when I was very young. I wish I remembered the adoption – I have witnessed other people’s adoptions and it is really emotional and beautiful. I wish I remembered my own experience. Regardless, I am proud to be from the Shangukeidi Clan. This is the Eagle Thunderbird Clan, from Haines. My Tlingit name is Daashtú. I was named after my great aunt, Mercedes Quinto. I was really engaged in my culture when I was a child, but slowly life started to get busy and I was not as engaged as I once was. Once my grandma passed away, I wanted to really start spending more time with my grandpa. I danced in celebration with my grandpa for the first time since I was probably 4 or 5. It was AMAZING. It opened up my entire world. Ever since I have been completely engaged in my culture and wanting to learn more and do more. I chose to include this picture, because it was truly eye opening for me.
My Current Home
This is the living room of my current home. I have really enjoyed the process of decorating my home and being able to express myself through this. Its also my first home with my Boyfriend Chad. We have lived here almost 3 years and it really was a transition. Learning to live on my own, and become a “real adult”. I chose to include these pictures because it was a big milestone in my life. For many reasons.
247 S. Franklin St. Juneau 2011
This is the old location of The Glory Hall, the emergency shelter I work for. I am the Deputy Director and I have had the privilege of helping to renovate this old historic building from a shelter, to 7 affordable housing units. Something that is really important to me is low barrier housing. Juneau has almost no low barrier housing. We need housing for felons, and for people with substance abuse issues, and for people who can’t afford the incredibly high rental market in Juneau. These 7 new apartments will ONLY be for people who live 80% below the average income in Juneau. I am incredibly proud to be apart of this project, and help people get housed, who wouldn’t get housed anywhere else.
247 S. Franklin St Juneau 2024
Comments
10 responses to “My Story Through Pictures”
Hi Kaia, those are some nice pictures that you chose. I think it’s really awesome that you had such a great relationship with your grandma. Reading about your grandma brought back so many memories about my grandma, she’s passed on already also. It’s always nice to hear or read others stories about their upbringing and family situations, it kind of gives us a gist of why they want to help others. Thank you for sharing.
You have a nice home. Yes, I grew up not knowing my grandparents from my parents’ side. Family is everything regardless of the situation with your parents. Mine didn’t have the perfect marriage but they stuck together. My children though grew up without a father. They are all grown up now and I did share why I left their father.
Hey Kaia, I really enjoyed your blog and learning more about you and your story. I think it is so cool that you have such a good relationship with your dad and your grandma. Seeing your dad as the leader is also super awesome. I was the same with my dad and I thought the same thing about him being invincible until he wasn’t. I was also really close with my grandma before she passed in 2019 and it was super sad to see her go but I am so happy we had so many good memories. I feel like being close to extended family is pretty rare now so that is cool to hear about.
Hi Lillian,
Thank you for sharing!
I also have noticed that a lot more of my friends or people I know are not as close to extended family. I am curious if this has to do with just growing older, or if our situations really are rare?
Its interesting to think about.
Hey Kaia, great story. When I posted my photo story, I also talked about my childhood home. It’s the home where all of my memories took place, but unfortunately it was sold to random people after we moved to Alaska, so I no longer have a solid connection to it, but when I visit Texas, I usually make a quick drive past it.
That is such a scary situation regarding your dad. I’m sorry you had to deal with that by yourself, but it is really great to hear that everything turned out okay.
I think it is great that you are passionate about affordable housing for people struggling to find homes. Creating those apartments for them is a huge accomplishment and you definitely should feel proud of yourself and your team for it!
Hi Morgan, Thank you so much!
I bet this will be a common theme, childhood homes – because they really do have a big impact on someone whether it is good or bad.
I am sorry your home got sold to random people, but its really cool you drive by it when you visit. I would do the same thing.
Hi Kaia,
I always enjoy reading your blogs! First, I can’t imagine how terrifying it must have been to get that call from your stepmother regarding your father and then to have your grandmother pass away; that’s a lot to handle within a span of a few months. I’m so sorry that you weren’t able to be with your family to grieve. I’m so happy to hear that your dad is healthy.
I appreciated that you added photos of the inside of your house; that’s such a sacred space and I respect your vulnerability. I love the way you decorated it! Like you, I highly enjoyed decorating my house as a way to express myself, and our family’s values.
I feel like I know you just from being in your classes the past year, but it’s evident that you’ve grown so much! I didn’t realize you were the Deputy Director at Glory Hall – is this a recent promotion? Either way, congratulations, and thank you for making a large impact on our community! We truly need more people like you in Juneau, someone who is advocating for people who don’t get their voices heard. Once you’re done with school, do you plan still live in Juneau and work at Glory Hall? Also, you must be getting ready to graduate, is this your last semester?
This is honestly one of the most visually beautiful blogs I’ve seen, I’m curious as to how you executed it. I loved your part on the home that holds your childhood memories, I have the same feeling with that and my childhood home. It was really heartfelt to see on Google Maps your grandmother is still alive and getting into her car. I never put much value into the homes I have lived in and seeing your perspective on this really opened my eyes. I hope your father stays healthy and I wish you happiness!
Very cool post. I can commiserate with the issue of to few low barrier housing units. This is a growing issue, and the disparity seems to be getting worse. My personal dream ( and retirement goal) is to create more income housing units that are dedicated to serving that segment of society who can’t afford 1750/mo rent.
I’ve never been to Juneau. Your pics make me want to make the trip. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Kaia.
I didn’t know what drove me to your blog, but I can say that as I read further, I knew immediately why I wanted to read your blog. I noticed that we both have a father who became ill and a grandmother who has now passed on.
The first thing I noticed about your blogs is how honest you are. You were able to be brave and acknowledge the “shift” from completely ignoring the house after the divorce of your parents to fully accepting it and loving it even more. I really admire your honesty.
When you wrote about your dad reminded me of how much I love my dad. My father got diagnosed with cancer in the ending of 2021. It broke me and built me in many ways I can’t explain. “I I think we can now probably lead ourselves in the directions of our own choosing, but he will always be there if we get lost.”
This is what made me more interested in your writing. The way you portray your father as the hero in your life is exactly how I feel about my mom and dad.
Thank you. Great sharing!