MICHELLE
She was a stunning woman. Sure, I fell for her, hard. We got married and we sailed our life through a sea of bliss. One year she gave me a picture of her, taken when she was 3. A lovely picture, intriguing. The thing's had me by the throat ever since.

  I hung it in my office. I’d look at it and smile at her right heel, raised just so. I loved that. But I wondered, whose arm was that? And the guy holding the blanket, with the crazy tie…the Bogart in me had to know. But mostly? I was curious about the book she was reading. Whatever it was, it must have been a big deal.
THE ORIGINAL
Years passed. One Christmas Eve I was looking for wrapping paper, I opened a box, and…what’s this? A Christmas card from 1947. It had a green bow and a little calendar booklet for the coming year, 1948. It was, unmistakably, the original photo. 

 I headed downstairs. She’d told me once that her grandparents, Bernice and Mike, spent summers after the war running the gift shop at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone. It was a fancy, grandparent's kind of card. This picture could be a clue. 

 I found Michelle in the library, decorating the tree, and showed it to her. “Look what I found."

 She smiled as she took it from me. “Oh, my, I forgot we had this. It’s the Christmas card Bernice and Mike sent to the rest of the family when I was a kid. I was their first grandchild, so I was quite the center of attention.”

WWII
I knew a part of the backstory. During the war, her mom, Anna, had lived in Iowa, where Michelle was born a few months before the Armistice. Her dad, Dave, and his brothers Dean and Jimmy had all served in combat. In 1945 she’d welcomed them home as the firstborn of a new generation.

As Michelle carefully paged through the tiny calendar, I asked, “Any idea whose arm that is?” She studied it, then gave it back to me. "Sorry, Sweetie. I just don't remember. I was three." She kissed me and returned to the tree.

I considered this tiny masterpiece. The photo must have meant a lot to Bernice, to fancy it up in a Christmas card. So, what book is that?

I made room in our hutch for this new clue, but not before carefully looking at its reverse. It was blank. Damn.

I'M AN OLD MAN
Decades have passed. I’m an old man and my darling wife Michelle has passed away, as have her parents, her uncles and her grandparents. I can’t even describe how much I miss the woman.

I live next to our grandsons and I’ve told them all about her and the photo. They've seen it in the hutch and they’re as curious about it as I am. It's a family thing now. The grandsons' dad was named after Mike, his great-granddad, whom he called “Gramps.” 

My grandsons call me “Gramps.” One of our grandsons is named after Dave, Michelle's dad. I've often wondered, "Will a photo mystery follow this Gramps to his grave?" I thought it would. I truly did.

Until yesterday.

 A PICTURE FALLS TO THE FLOOR...
I was organizing boxes in a closet and, inside one, I found this picture of Michelle, in pigtails, beside her cousin Gai, daughter to Michelle's uncle Dean.

 I’d seen the photo before but, wait a minute, this time I noticed the corner of something else, peeking out from behind. I carefully pulled it out. It was a picture of her grandparents, Mike and Bernice. It had to be taken in Yellowstone. The log architecture is a dead giveaway. 

 Then another picture, behind that one, fell to the floor. I picked it up.

It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. Michelle, in pigtails, sitting on a blanket. On her right is her mother, Anna, bare-armed. Her dad, Dave, is behind, with her uncle Dean wearing a crazy tie and uncle Jimmy behind Bernice and Mike.

 Bernice is holding a book, Michelle’s shoes are the same... I was gobsmacked. I'd found it!

The photo’s reverse says, “June 8, 1947. Taken on our front door-step in Ames.” The front says, “C.M Herrick home in Ames, Iowa.” Michelle and her family were visiting her grandparents, who’d returned from Yellowstone to their home in Ames.

IT UNRAVELS
The mystery of all time, unraveled in my hands. My favorite photo was taken on that front step, with Michelle on that blanket, in those shoes, surrounded by her loving family. Her mom, bare-armed, reaches in to help her hold her book. Her uncle Dean holds the blanket as a backdrop. At long last, I know exactly where she was and who was there.

Michelle often told me how much Bernice loved reading to her as a child. It's because of that, I'll bet, that my darling wife became such a literary savant herself. Michelle and that mystery book are the centerpieces of both photos.

Sadly, everyone in this Ames picture has passed away. Only one mystery remains: the title of the book. 

Time is passing faster each day, and I’ve got a feeling I’ll know soon. I'll ask Bernice, she'll remember. And Michelle. It'll be great to see that fabulous woman again.

 Stay tuned, Ron

 You can buy our books at:

 Amazon: Letters        Chronicles
Barnes and Noble: Letters        Chronicles
and Smashwords: Letters        Chronicles










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