THEN NOW

Kym, Pigeon Hill, 1988

“I had just gotten back from Pennsylvania where I met T-Bone, my first true love. I got back to Indiana and found out I was pregnant. I was a junior at Bloomington North High School. The whole time I was pregnant I stayed in school. I ran varsity track and was offered a college scholarship. I ran ‘til I was 5 months pregnant—until it hurt.”


Kym, with Caesarean Scar, Woodland Springs Apartments, 2011

“The scars on my stomach represent a lot of battles. I might look the same as I did in the earlier picture but I feel old as dirt. I believe I was a strong person when I was younger but with Gary, my ex, I was weak. I stayed in an abusive relationship. He kept saying, ‘You can’t survive without me,’ and I started believing it. When you gave me this picture I looked at it a long time. I saw that the scars represented sadness, weakness. At the same time I saw my strength returning slowly but surely. That was when I started sticking up for myself. After 10 years I left him and got my own apartment. I don’t know why I didn’t leave sooner.”