Two years after my husband's death, I finally had the courage to sort through his things in the garage – what I discovered changed my life😮
"Can I tell you I'm a mess, Barbara?" “She asked softly.
“Of course,” I replied.
Teenage girl on the phone | Source: Midjourney
I asked Lily for her address, and when we saw it was about a twenty-minute drive, I went to pick her up.
We talked for hours that first day, sharing stories and putting the pieces of Mark’s life together. Lily was 17 and almost an adult.
Over key lime pie and hot chocolate, Lily told me about her childhood, her grandparents, and her dream of studying photography.
A homemade cake on the kitchen counter | Source: Midjourney
“It’s not a career for the lazy, as my grandfather says,” she chuckled. “It’s about… capturing a moment we’ll never have again. And I’ve lost a lot of good moments in my life, you know? There are moments I’ll always doubt. Memories I could have had with my mother. With my father…”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea, honey,” I said. “You should show me some of your work sometime, okay?” ".
She smiled and nodded.
She wanted to know everything about Mark. The Mark I came to know and love.
A camera on a coffee table | Source: Midjourney
In the months that followed, Lily and I built a relationship that felt fragile and inevitable.
We spent hours looking at photos, laughing and crying, as we filled in the gaps in each other's lives.
