On the Steps of the Capitol

We met this family on the steps of the capitol yesterday. All of these red figures were visible from across the street, and a natural draw to a photographer who had finally been released from his office building. Turns out each one commemorates a woman who was killed by someone she was close to, usually a husband or boyfriend. Inside each Texas silhouette is a brief rundown of the crime that took her life. It was all part of the kick-off for the Texas Conference on Family Violence.

This little girl had lost her mother. "Here she is! We found her! We found her!" she was heard saying as she ran up to her mom's memorial. The excitement in her voice was simultaneously joyful and heart-breaking to the uninvited observer. "Okay, go stand next to Mommy," the woman with her said. Their names and the circumstances of the this young woman's death went undiscovered, since the family had gathered around the placard, and we didn't want to invade their privacy. We offered to snap a photo with their camera of all three of them next to the memorial, asked for permission to take the one above, and then went on our way.