“A cup of tea has always been a symbol of our connection with grandma. We called her Bomma — the Dutch word for grandmother. When we were kids, we were often in the kitchen with her. She would make us tea and ask about what was going on in our lives. We would sit around the table and talk.  She got sick and died a few years ago, during COVID. It was really difficult for us because we weren’t allowed to visit the hospital and say our goodbyes. Shari struggled with that a lot. After Bomma passed away, Shari couldn’t look at her pictures or put them up in the house — it felt too confronting. So she asked me to create an artwork to remember Bomma by.  I had all this tea because, when Bomma got diagnosed with cancer, she came to visit me in Mallorca, where I’d moved. She was a woman who never left her house and she was so sick, but she flew all the way from Belgium to see me. She brought me a suitcase full of tea, and every time I drink it, I think of her. I used those tea leaves to create the artwork.  When I think of Bomma, I realize how strong she was — always in service to everyone: helping, cooking, cleaning. After the doctor said she had two months to live, she lived for another two years. She got on the plane to come see me when she should have been in a wheelchair. She was still being that wife, that mother, that grandmother. She was pushing and pushing. That was the first time I saw the strength of a housewife and how capable women are. Bomma showed me a completely different side of womanhood that I didn’t understand or value as a kid. With age, I’ve come to realize how difficult it is to take care of everything and everyone and how much it does for others without them realizing it.  In a really subtle way, Bomma taught us a lot about love and life. She showed us the importance of being present with loved ones by just being there for us. That’s why we created Oon — to honor precious moments and connections through artworks that hold personal stories.” Written by Emiliya Ether