The Photograph

“Who’s there?” Alex Johnson asked from his chair.

“It’s just Logan, your favorite care provider.”

“Logan?” Alex questioned quietly.

Logan sat down next to him and placed a tray of food on a table. Logan had already been in the room three times during his shift, but Alex had already forgotten. Unfortunately, Alex had dementia and didn’t always remember Logan. It didn’t matter to him, though. Alex happened to be one of Logan’s favorite patients. Logan felt a connection and spent every lunch sitting with Alex. Perhaps it was because they were both of mixed race and misunderstood growing up. Logan struggled with his identity, too, and never felt like he belonged. Before Alex deteriorated further, he told stories about how he was never accepted as a black man or as a white man. Yet in war, as long as he could shoot, he was accepted. It was the only place he truly felt he belonged and had fought in World War Two and the Korean War. He never married or had children, although he did confide in Logan about his one and only love, Minnie. If he got talking about Minnie, it was as if he was a young man again.

While they enjoyed their daily lunches, Alex shared stories about his Minnie most of all. Logan made it a point to always act as if it was the first time hearing the stories, but he could probably pick Minnie out of a crowd with how many times he’d heard about her.

“She was white, you know. Her family hated me because of my skin color,” Alex continued. “Minnie was different. I fell in love with her the first time I laid eyes on her. She was entirely out of my league. A well-to-do girl with strawberry blonde hair and bright green eyes should not have been with a man like me. Yet, we were very much in love. Every word she spoke was like a song only I could hear. Oh, how I wish to smell that sweet peachy skin and taste those honey lips again.”

Alex sometimes couldn’t remember his own name or how to put shoes on, but you get him talking about Minnie and he could relay the smallest details from his memory.

Alex confided something in Logan he never had before. He shakily held out a black leatherbound book. “I want you to have this,” he said.

“You know we aren’t allowed to accept gifts from patients,” Logan reminded.

“This isn’t a gift. This is my life and your future.”

Logan was confused, but he took the book from his hands anyway. If nothing else, he could slip the book back into Alex’s drawer when he wasn’t looking. Curious, Logan flipped through the white pages. Most were filled with random sketches and odd written passages. “What is this?” Logan asked.

“It’s all my thoughts and memories during my life. It’s strange how an entire lifetime can fit into one book,” Alex reminisced. “I want you to pay most attention to this page.” He flipped through some pages and pointed out a list of steps. “This is directions to a suitcase I buried with Minnie. We had intentions of running away together after the war, and this was our savings and prized possessions we planned to take with us to start a new life. When I returned, I found her married to someone else. It’s buried on the property where she once lived. I want you to go get it.”

Logan scoffed at the thought. “I can’t go on someone’s property and dig something up.”

The man reached out for Logan’s hands. “Please! There’s a picture in that suitcase. I need to see her face once more before I go,” he pleaded. “You can have the money inside for your trouble. All I want is that picture.”

Logan sighed and looked over the page in front of him. It was very likely Alex would forget all about this conversation, but he agreed to at least try.

On his day off, Logan followed the instructions to a house in the upper-class part of town. Lavish houses lined the streets. Logan laughed when he stopped in front of the house listed in the book. The biggest house on the block was an old-world style home with a perfectly manicured lawn. He was to ask for permission to dig a hole in this lawn.

Walking up to the house, he looked around and noticed how out of place he felt. Trying to push those feelings aside, he knocked on the door and was greeted by a woman with golden hair and deep blue eyes. He was surprised how his heart skipped a beat when their eyes connected. She was entirely out of his league, but he couldn’t help the attraction.

“Can I help you?” she asked. Logan didn’t realize he had been standing there staring at her like a fool.

“Sorry,” he said, trying to shake his thoughts out. “My name’s Logan Reid. I know this might sound strange, but I work at a care facility for people with dementia. I have a man in my care who seems to think he buried something in your backyard many years ago. He asked if I would try to recover it.”

She laughed and shook her head. “You must be joking.”

Logan felt the defeat almost instantly. He suspected this type of reaction. “I know, it’s crazy. But if you met this guy, you’d probably want to know if it’s true. He’s been through a lot in his life and claims there’s money buried in this old suitcase. What he really wants is a photo of a girl he once loved.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not letting someone dig up my yard for a suitcase.”

“Aren’t you just a little curious?” he asked with great conviction. The woman scrutinized him for a long moment as if she were trying to decide. “Look, if I find anything and it’s of any value, you can keep it. All I want is the photo for my friend. I’ll fix any damage to your yard when I’m done.”

She sighed as if she was softening to his plea. “Fine, you can search today only.” Logan breathed a sigh of relief and nodded his head in understanding. “You should know I do have a gun, and I know how to use it.”

He smirked and rose an eyebrow. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Logan was shown around back, and he carefully followed the instructions listed in the black book. The hot day didn’t help his digging, but he continued, determined to find something. He wanted to believe what Alex claimed was actually there.

He caught the woman watching him from afar most of the day. Late in the day, she carried out a water bottle and handed it to him. He thanked her and sat down in the grass while he chugged the cool water.

“Why is this so important to you? Is it the money you’re after?”

“I don’t care about the money,” Logan assured. “This man I care for was in love with a woman long ago. They were going to run away together, so they buried a suitcase with what they would need to start a new life. When he returned from the war, she was married. He just wants the photo of her.”

“Sounds rather romantic,” she said with a smile.

“Yeah,” Logan agreed with a chuckle.

“I’m Gracie, by the way. I don’t think I told you my name earlier.”

Logan grinned and nodded his head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gracie. Thank you for letting me do this.”

“Of course. Like you said, I am curious. It’s interesting, though. My family has lived in this home for over a hundred years. I’ve never heard of this story before.”

“Maybe it’s an old relative.”

“Maybe.” She grabbed the black book laid out on the grass and started to read the instructions. She glanced around the yard and curiously studied the book. “You’re digging in the wrong spot.”

“What?”

“If this was written in the early nineteen-forties, this whole side of the house wasn’t built until the eighties,” she explained.

They both hopped up and studied the book further before following the steps more accurately. They ended up in a different spot and started digging. It didn’t take long before they hit something. They were excited when they pulled the small suitcase out of the dirt. Inside was cash, jewels, even a few baseball cards, probably worth thousands of dollars now. Underneath all of it was a photo of a man and a woman. Gracie picked it up first and stared at it in disbelief.

“What is it?” Logan wondered.

“This is my great-grandmother,” she observed, holding the photo out for him to see.

Logan grinned excitedly when his eyes focused on the man he knew and the girl he had pictured as Minnie from Alex’s description. “That’s Alex Johnson.”

“This story is about my great-grandmother?” she questioned. Gracie stood quickly and motioned for Logan to follow her. They entered the house and went down a hallway into a room where an old woman with long grey hair sat in a wheelchair staring out a window. “This is my great-grandmother, Maryann.”

Logan was stunned, his breath hitched. “Minnie,” he breathed.

The old woman turned towards him with a look of shock. “Alex?” she questioned when her eyes focused on Logan.

Gracie reassured her before leaving the room with Logan.

“We have to reunite them,” Logan insisted, excitedly.

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea. She’s very frail and at the end of her life.”

“Please, Gracie. All Alex wants at the end of his own life is a photo of his Minnie. How amazing would it be if we could reunite them?”

Gracie sighed in defeat and agreed. She very carefully loaded Maryann in the car and followed Logan to the care facility.

Logan entered Alex’s room first and sat down. Logan slowly handed him the photo he requested. Alex’s hands shook with joy. “My Minnie.”

“Alex, what if I told you that by finding this photo, I also found Minnie?”

The old man’s eyes misted with tears while Gracie wheeled her great-grandmother inside. When their eyes connected, it was as if they were young again. They touched and cried as they reveled in the sight of each other.

“I waited for you,” Minnie cried.

“I’ll never leave you again,” Alex promised with a kiss.

Logan and Gracie stepped out of the room to give them some privacy.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile like that,” Gracie observed. “She married a horrible man who beat her almost daily. He nearly killed her a couple times. When she finally left him, she fell into a deep depression. She was ridiculed terribly for leaving her husband. Women didn’t leave their husbands in those days, especially women of higher social class. Her own family berated her. I barely know anything about her life. She never wanted to talk about any of it.”

“They were kept apart by racial differences and probably social class as well.”

“I’m sure that was a big part of it,” Gracie agreed. “I’m sure even today those same differences impact many relationships. I, for one, refuse to stand in the way of love for any reason.”

“I agree.”

“What do we do with the money?” Gracie wondered.

“Maybe we should finally let them run away together, with us as chaperones, of course,” Logan laughed.

Gracie laughed in return. “I like that idea.”

“We did something great today,” Logan said with a grin. “Thank you for letting me dig up your backyard.”

She smiled in return. “I do expect you to fix my backyard, like you promised.”

Logan chuckled shyly. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Gracie’s eyes shined with excitement. “I’m looking forward to it.”