Courageous Vulnerability
The photographic journey of Trevor and his mother Holly below has been an invitational exhibition in San Francisco to launch the Trevor TCR Foundation in December 2016. It is designed as a moveable exhibition, that will be hosted in other cities and values aligned venues.
A Mother’s Tribute to Her Beautiful Son
"Trevor has come here to teach us all something… that life is courageous vulnerability.
The truth is I’ve been scared my whole life… I’ve been scared to face myself, to engage in my power, and simply to be who I really am. I have not stood in my own light, and my own power. Until Trevor taught me how. To reach my true self, I had to step into my own darkness and uncertainty, where I met my shadows, fears, and the judgments and shaming of others. What Trevor has brought out in me… is ME. This is my wish for everyone who experiences this photographic journey – that we may all return to being at home,
in our beautiful selves.
"Trevor was born August 13th, 2003. He was a week overdue. He was a very aware child. I remember his looking at the flowers. He loved the flowers. Trevor walked at 14 months, exactly as all three of our children. He sat up at 6 months. At 21 months our daughter Thalia was born, and Trevor ran down the hall saying "Alia! Alia!". Trevor then started changing. In preschool Trevor began withdrawing in the corner, as he was having trouble keeping up with the other children’s development. We took Trevor to every learning specialist, neurologist, doctor, therapist and anyone else we could find to help him. We were told he was ‘severally severally delayed.’ Yet, there was not ever any real medical diagnosis. No one could help him. And no one was willing to admit this.
"By Trevor’s 5th birthday in 2008, everything had changed. The financial markets began falling apart in June, and Tanner was born in July. I was running a full team at Morgan Stanley. Over a two week period in April of 2008, Trevor lost all of his words. Trevor’s motor skills began to disintegrate rapidly. I had to buy a helmet because he kept falling down. I will always remember his last heartbreaking request: he asked me to take his hand, to help him down the stairs. Family and good friends struggled to support us and make sense of it all, and my parents left our life.
"Having exhausted absolutely everything Western medicine had to offer, I sought alternative therapies, and began exploring my own spiritual and inner path. Over years I realized, I could not help Trevor without facing and helping myself. Over yet more time, I realized – it was not Trevor that needed saving. It was me. It was everyone around me that was suffering in hiding. It was the world around us. Trevor is an amazing person that brings light to our lives. He struggles in his body because perhaps we live in a world that does not support beings as sensitive as Trevor. The idea to create the Trevor TCR Foundation was a collaboration of many people who wanted to bring forth the spirit of his life and what he teaches all of us. For me, instead of trying to save my son, I was called to see and share the truth he had given me – with the world."
- Holly Ziegel Ruxin -
"The Hero's Journey", by Amber Nystrom
published in Real-Leaders Magazine
Courageous Vulnerability Brochure
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"For years I had been looking for a photographer to capture the beauty, pain, example, and love that my disabled son brought forth into the world, for me, for my family, and for all of those that he touched. I knew that it would take a person who could truly see outside of the box and at a higher level than most. [Upon] meeting Ralph and sensing who he was, I knew that was him.
[Together] we created a body of work that not only will be remembered as capturing mother and son, but an emotional and evocative piece for the world.”
- Holly Ziegel Ruxin, Founder and CEO, Montcalm, TCR;
Founder & President, TCR Foundation