“I know it’s here somewhere,” I keep saying out loud ,pushing envelope after envelope aside,almost frantic, looking for that one photo of Mom and Dad, black and white, no-apology smiling, circa 1959, not looking at the camera, but down and to the side. It’s like they’re so happy they can’t even stand to see themselves so blatantly aware of each other’s joy, breathing the same air in that small room, their upstairs flat. The shy , million-dollar-smile : Moms’ ; the wide-gapped front-tooth smirk, Dad’s. Those Mauricio-lips, full and opening into larger-than-life smiles.
“I found it !,”
I hear myself say triumphantly, my fingers tracing the outlines of Mom and Dad sitting in kitchen chairs, a formica table with think black lines tracing an abstract pattern across the entire length of the table. This photo is a relic, a memory and proof of that day ,their wedding .I can’t stop holding this relic of long-ago Detroit, vintage Vernor Highway, their first address as husband and wife. Rhythmically, my fingers trace memory like the tattered edges of a treasured postcard, read and re-read so many times, patting down the peeled corners, folded back. Careful glances. Even through smudges and smears of so many years past, my father and mother take shape before me.
Funny how one rescued photo opens doors long closed, allowing us a peek into a glimmer of history, a private happiness made real.
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This post was previously published on medium.com
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Photo credit: Rosendo and Vivienne (1959) ( Author )