Love in a photograph

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Autumn blows in and out of Hansen in what seems like a single weekend, and the bitter cold sets in right at the end of October. The harvest is incredible, even better than last year, and Gemma puts away more than half of her earnings to help make the last few months of Pa's life as comfortable as they can be.

Harry takes on the role of full time babysitter for both of his parents, caring for Pa when the visiting nurse leaves and taking Ma for walks around the farm just to get her out of the house while the nurse is there. She seems to be getting worse with every passing day; she doesn't understand why the nurse is there, insists that Pa is getting better, even though the nurse is sure Pa won't make it long into the new year. Gemma thinks he'll pass before Christmas but, call Harry hopeful, he thinks he might make it until spring.

Harry takes Ma to a flea market at the church on the first Sunday of November, bundles her up in her warmest coat, hat and mittens like a child and borrows Gemma's car so that they can bring home everything Ma will inevitably pick up. They spend the whole morning wandering around, bright and freezing weather be damned, and it's probably the best day Ma's had in awhile.

She finds a basket of yarn for cheap, promises to make Harry a nice, thick blanket that he can bring back to Boston next fall. She'll make one for Louis, as well, if she has time, and maybe she'll do him a sweater as well that Harry can send him for his birthday. They also buy loads of jam and preservatives from Mrs. Peterson, since they've had a hard few years, and a couple pounds of beef from Mr. Jones, as well. Harry finds a nice pair of leather mittens that he thinks Louis will like, and Ma talks him into buying a pair of heavy wool socks for him, as well.

Louis's first letter came weeks ago, in early September, less than a week after he left for Boston. Harry wrote back immediately, and they've been having steady correspondence ever since. Louis keeps him updated on all the news in Boston, which includes every funny story from the store, every college student who happens to remember Harry, and every old man who walks all hunched over like Harry did that morning back in March when he fell asleep in his chair in the living room and had a terrible back the next day. Harry lives from letter to letter, keeps them all buried deep in his sock drawer so that he can keep them safe forever. He still doesn't know when he'll see Louis again, and he wants to hang on to every piece of him that he can.

Ma spends a bit more time wandering around the market until she's satisfied she's picked up everything worth picking up, and then she finally lets Harry load it all up into the car and bring her home. The housekeeper has a small fire crackling in the wood stove and lunch on the table when they walk in, and Harry gets a brief reprieve from Ma while she tells the housekeeper about everything she found at the market.

He goes to check on Pa while Ma is busy, creeping into the room when he finds that Pa is asleep. He adjusts his blankets to keep him warm and checks to make sure he's got a full cup of water on the bedside should he need it, but he jumps at the sound of Pa's voice as he turns to go.

"Oh, Harry, it's you," Pa croaks, waving him over to the bed with one increasingly frail hand. "I was only pretending to be asleep, I thought you were Ma. I love the woman, you know, but she's lost her mind," he sighs.

"I know," Harry says, sitting down at the edge of the bed. "You should have seen her at the flea market this morning. She acts like a real old lady now," he chuckles.

"She is a real old lady," Pa says, patting Harry's arm. "You take good care of her, boy, hear? I'm afraid I'm not going to be around much longer, and she's gonna need you kids to be strong after I'm gone," he says.

"We'll take good care of her," Harry promises, leaning over to leave a small kiss on Pa's forehead. "But you better hope to hell you make it through Christmas. I'm afraid if she doesn't get to give you the gifts she bought for you this morning, she'll die with worry," he jokes.