A Treasure In The Attic

Treasures abound in an attic if you're patient enough to wade through the spiders and dust to find them. I found a picture of Mama there in an old camelback trunk crowded with unknown relatives in musty photo albums, dried rose bouquets, and size six shoe boxes filled with old love letters. The photo was crackled, its corners bent, but there she was. A bandana tied round her head almost held the whispy curls celebrating their freedom in an ocean breeze, pants rolled up mid-calf, cuffs barely skimming the water and she looked so happy. How I wish I had known her then - so young and pretty, living carefree in a world filled with Daddy, before children and cancer. And in a treasure from the attic, I found the love I had known that had so shaped me throughout my life. How terribly I miss her.