Janis
Janis is a run-of-the-mill office employee content with living a mundane routine—wake up, go to work, and make it to the weekend. Never going off script from the same places, people, and tepid conversations. She finds it’s much easier not to make waves and survive another day.
In her free time, she enjoys trips to the local rose garden as an escape from the pressures of life. She finds the roses are great company to reflect and mentally prepare herself for the next week ahead.
The comfort of her routine is thrown into disarray upon receiving a death notice for her long-estranged mother, Teresa. While clearing out her childhood home, Janis discovers an untold past through a collection of song journals and mementos, which radically shift her view of her mother in an unexpected way.
Early Explorations of Janis
Teresa
About Teresa
Teresa is a bit worse for wear. She is a seasoned professional, surviving on the precious embers of limited time and energy working at the hospital. Long days and hard truths have shaped the single mother into a streamlined but withdrawn individual both on and off the clock.
Like many parents, she wants to give her daughter the childhood she wishes she had, valuing Janis’ freedom first. However, her hands-off parenting style led to the two gradually losing contact over the years. Regular visits turned to irregular phone calls until they eventually stopped speaking altogether.
Seemingly distant at times, she has come to accept the life she leads alongside its hardships. But still grieves how life could have been different sometimes deep below the surface.
Teresa’s Past
Despite appearances, Teresa wasn’t always this way. Her youth was lively as a saxophonist traveling the country with her band during the Asian-American Jazz Movement of the 1970’s.
A curious spirit and wanderlust, a young Teresa was quick to inquire about anyone or anything that piqued her interest. Her outspoken personality and ability to magically remember every name she’s ever met were magnetic. Making her fast friends with each venue and city she passed through.
An unexpected pregnancy was seemingly another adventure for her and her band, but juggling motherhood with the life of an ambitious nomad was much more difficult than previously thought. Ultimately, leaving her on her own in a new city with a baby girl to take care of.