It amazes me when I think about how interconnected mothers and daughters are and how we shape each other over generations. As I look at the path of my life, I realize that I would have never have gotten to where I am if my mom had not been there to show me how, just by how she lives her life. She is strong, caring, stubborn, quirky, and fun, among so many other things.

So much of who I am comes from who she is – which probably comes from who her mother was. I never got to meet my grandmother, but I know that she survived living in Germany before, during, and after World War II while raising her very young daughter. I can only imagine the strength and resilience that must have taken, particularly for my mother to turn out as wonderfully as she did. It makes me wonder what my great-grandmother was like.

Some day, I hope that I will pass on these same traits to my children. In honor of Mother’s Day, I put together a short collage of photos across the span of my grandmother’s, mother’s, and my life to capture in less than a minute what happens over generations.