But the second album was different.
That one began with Nathan.
There he was getting dressed.
Dad’s cufflinks resting against his wrists.
Nathan checking the time.
Nathan standing alone behind the church doors.
Nathan holding one arm out as he waited for me.
Then came the walk.
Page after page.
Nathan concentrating fiercely.
My hand wrapped around his arm.
His lips moving as he counted.
The moment he glanced at me to ask whether he was walking too quickly.
The moment he whispered something that made me cry.
The moment Daniel hugged him.
Then came the speech.
One photograph stretched across two full pages.
Nathan stood at the altar holding his folded paper in both hands.
Behind him, almost everyone in the pews was crying.
I stared at that photograph for a long time.
Then I cried all over again.
For illustrative purposes only
Part 6 — Margaret Saw What I Saw
