"I have no photos with my kids. I'm always the one taking them."

I've heard this so many times, in so many kitchens and living rooms and backyards across Montreal, that it almost doesn't surprise me anymore. Almost. Because every time someone says it, there's still that small, quiet weight behind it. The faint recognition of something missed, something not yet recovered.

She cried that morning. Not from doubt. From the weight of having had to defend something so simple, so tender, for so long. An act of love met, over and over, with unsolicited opinions from people who had no place at that table.

Out of that friction, Erin built something. She started her own photography series, Mama Melk, to connect with other mothers and normalize breastfeeding toddlers. She became an educator and an advocate almost overnight. What others called rebellion, she called love.

And then Alice was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and suddenly Erin's refusal to stop wasn't just love. It was a lifeline.