"Watermelon Girls" is the first in the series of tapestries that celebrates my heritage. It is an image of my Grandmother and her women friends at a church social. My father's family is of German ancestry, and lived in a small German-American community in Kansas. The small black and white 2"x2" contact photo that inspired this tapestry seemed very 'familiar' to me. Although I was not at this particular event (my father was only about 12 years old at this time, as I discovered in other photos taken the same day), because I have been at so many similar events, I feel like I could have been there. To me, this speaks of heritage ~ of a familiarity born of repeated events, activities, and rituals. The empty chair represents my presence... or the presence of a viewer who also shares in the same heritage.