Alotta Monkey Business

Past The Future

Shortly after I graduated in 1978, I made a trip to South Dakota to stay with my grandmother for the summer. I had gotten a fancy camera for my birthday, and while staying at my grandmother's, would often go driving in the country and take photographs of old, abandoned houses.

On one photography trip, I stopped to take pictures of an old farm. It wasn't abandoned, but the style of the house, the old tractor in the yard, and the old car parked by the porch seemed like a look backward in time. I had taken a couple of pictures when a young woman came out the front door and stood on the porch, holding a baby in her arms. "Can I help you?"

I explained why I was there and taking pictures of her home, then apologized and turned to go back to my car. "It's alright. Go ahead and take your pictures. But, if you wouldn't mind, could you take one of me and my son, and maybe mail it to us?"

"Sure, I can do that." She stepped off the porch and stood under an ancient maple tree. I took a couple of pictures to ensure one would be perfect to send to her. After, she offered me a glass of lemonade in a green-colored, heavy glass while I waited on the porch for her to write down her address. We talked for a bit, then she said she had to get dinner started. She insisted I take the glass of lemonade with me.

Later, after I had the film developed, I picked the best of the two pictures I had taken and mailed it to her. I never thought more about it until I returned home that fall. I was greeted by my mother, "You're home! Did you have a nice time at grandma's?"

"I did, and I took a bunch of pictures around the countryside with the camera you got me." I set my bags down, opened one, and took out the green glass and a folder containing all my photographs. My mother had picked up the glass and was staring distantly at it, "Where did you get this?"

I explained the story, found the picture, and showed her. I couldn't understand why she looked like she had seen a ghost. "Are you alright, mom?"

She blinked as she escaped the trance that held her, then went to her bedroom. She returned a few minutes later with a photo album she put on the table, then asked me, "Would you help me get a box down, please?"

"Uh, sure." I didn't understand what was going on. I followed her to the pantry where she pointed to an old shoe box on the top shelf. I used the step stool to reach it and handed it down to her. She carried it to the table, set it down next to the photo album, and looked at me. "I think you should sit down. In fact, we both should."

I sat down and looked at her, puzzled. She was sitting now and opened the box. She took out three big glasses wrapped in old newspaper and unwrapped them. They matched the green glass the lady on the farm had given me! Next, she flipped through the photo album, found a picture, and removed it from its sleeve. She looked at it for a moment, then handed it to me. I almost fell off my chair, it was the same picture of the lady on the farm, holding the baby. But this photograph was old and yellowed around the edges.

"A young man took this picture of me and you, a few months after you were born. I gave him some lemonade and let him keep the glass in exchange for mailing me this picture."

I couldn't move; I could barely breathe! After sitting there stunned for a minute or two, I dug through the folder and found the other picture I had taken of the woman and the baby. It was the same photograph! The same house, the same lady in the same clothes holding the same baby -- me!

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