Freezing sleet hit the window like the keys on a piano. She was sitting alone in her father-in-law’s bedroom. Everyone had survived the holidays except George, which is why Dana was going through George’s personal belongings on this cold January morning. Her husband, Harry, was in the middle of a legal case, so she was appointed to clean George’s house.
He estimated that it would take him at least a week to do the job. Since the weather was weak for driving and George lived over a hundred miles from his own home, Harry thought it best for Dana to stay there until the job was done. She was usually overwhelmed by his assumption that she should take care of all the heavy lifting for the family. After all, as he often reminded her; Harry’s time was more valuable than his. This time, however, he made no fuss. A break from him and his three teenage sons would be like a vacation.
OK. Enough daydreaming. Get to work. She told herself as she lifted the lid off the old chest at the end of George’s bed. It was packed to the brim with papers and souvenirs. On top of it was a worn album that I had never seen before. Obviously, it had been examined a lot over the years.
He opened it and discovered that on the first page there was a picture of George with his girlfriend, Harriett, Harry’s mother. By the time Dana appeared on the scene, Harriett and George were divorced. Harriett now lived across the country in Boston and was a partner in a famous law firm. Like mother like son.
Dana turned the pages and watched her husband’s early childhood unfold in the pictures. At the age of what Dana would assume was about ten, Harry’s mother disappeared from the photos. There was only George with his teenage son. A father in his modest out-of-the-box suit stands next to his son in a graduation gown and a high school diploma, next to a photo of Harry with a diploma from the University of Colorado.
The image brought back memories of his first meeting with this handsome law student. He was a senior and she was in her second year as an English student. At the last minute, her friend Ann asked her to go to a frat party. Ann was dating one of her members and was asked to bring some friends. He hated frat parties. It was loud, boring, and drunken business, but Ann begged him relentlessly to come on the condition that she could leave whenever she wanted.
She fell in love the moment she spoke to him. He was kind and oh, he was so sure of himself. Five months later they were married. After law school, they started their family. Harry quickly rose through the ranks of a prestigious law firm while she took care of the home and all the needs of her husband and son. His father-in-law, George, became a great friend during Harry’s absentee years.
The next pages of the album were filled with pictures of Dana, George, and the children; in the mountains skiing, at birthday parties, Thanksgiving dinner, at minor league games, at school plays, etc. No Harry.
Tears welled up from the corner of her eye as she remembered that it was during those years that she fell in love with her father-in-law. Her own father, like Harry, was mostly physically and emotionally absent when she was growing up. George was the father and husband she longed for. At one point in her marriage, she was ready to leave Harry. George pulled her aside and convinced her to focus on herself and do something for herself that would make her happy.
“What have you always wanted to do and didn’t?” He asked me.
Dana thought silently for a moment and then, as if she had the courage to speak, blurted out. “I’ve always wanted to write.”
“Then do it, but just a tip. Keep it a secret for now.”
Dana nodded. She knew, as did George, that Harry’s inflated ego would not tolerate her accomplishing something on her own that was not her idea. It was only when her book became a national bestseller that Harry recognized that she was a writer even though she still referred to her work as shoddy novels.
On the back of George’s album were reviews of his books and announcements of his signatures. George had been her best fan. Your encouragement and support would be missed. Her greatest gift was that she had taught her to appreciate and love herself.
With tearful eyes, she looked up and whispered, “I love you George. Thank you.”
