“We’ll look tonight,” I said.
Her eyes widened.
“All of it?”
“All of it.”
Mrs. Parker finally spoke.
“I didn’t understand what the clipping was.”
Sophie looked at her.
Mrs. Parker’s face reddened.
“I saw an article about two people dying and thought it wasn’t appropriate beside the other children’s family pictures.”
Plan Family Trips
Sophie frowned.
“But it’s not a picture of them dying.”
Mrs. Parker went quiet.
“No.”
“It’s a picture of my mom and dad.”
Mrs. Parker looked down.
“You’re right.”
Get Photo Storage
That evening, my husband sat beside Sophie on our bedroom floor while I took the box down from the closet.
Sophie recognized it immediately.
“So that’s where you got the clipping.”
She nodded.
“You climbed up there?”
Another nod.
My husband gave her a look.
Track Pregnancy
“We’ll discuss the climbing later.”
For the first time all day, Sophie smiled.
Then I opened the box.
There were fewer things inside than I remembered.
Three photographs.
A hospital bracelet with Sophie’s birth name.
A tiny knitted hat.
Get Parenting Tips
Several envelopes tied together with a faded blue ribbon.
And one photograph I had completely forgotten.
Richard was sitting in an armchair.
He looked much younger than the man who had once stood on my porch.
In his arms was a newborn wrapped in a yellow blanket.
Sophie.
On the back, written in blue ink, were the words:
Get Marriage Tips
“Sophie. My granddaughter. Three weeks old.”
I called Mr. Harris.
He came over that evening.
When I handed him the photograph, he stared at it for a long time.
Then he noticed the envelopes.
“What are those?”
“I don’t know.”
Edit Photos
I had never opened them.
