december 1944

In Austin last July, I bought a few vintage photos from a dusty antique shop. And so began my collection. Intending to use them for greeting cards, I looked for photos that lent themselves to different occasions — birthdays, thank yous, etc.

But the most intriguing old photos, I'm finding, are the ones with messages scrawled on their backs. Like the one below, each one holds some secret. And I desperately want to know what it is.

Where was it taken, who took it, what did it mean, and what happened? How did all these snapshots, like little lost memories, wind up in shoe boxes in the back corners of antique shops? Who died, or who stopped caring, or who stopped loving whom?

And what compels me the most is knowing that I'll never find the answers. But maybe in wondering about them, in dreaming up all the possible mysteries and plausible stories, maybe I'll find fodder for that novel I write some day... one day...

The message, if you can't read it, says:

I guess you will remember this! I know I will never forget it. It makes me blue everytime I look at it. Joey