The Man In the Photograph

August 13, 2010

SOOKIE

Friday the 13th had been one of my favorite days since I was a kid. My daughter's birthday had even fallen on Friday the 13th. July 13, 1984 to be exact. Genesis Elyse Northman came into the world a week after her due date, but perfect as can be. I was in love from the minute I saw her little bald head and big blue eyes. She was long like her daddy but chubby like her mama. It was hard to believe she was already 26 and about to be a mother herself.

She was due October 15th. The baby shower was coming up the following weekend. I thought I was a little young to be a grandma already, but then most days I didn't feel like I was almost 50. Then again, my life seemed to be a blur sometimes. It certainly hadn't gone the way I planned, but then I got the feeling that it was like that for a lot of people. Genesis never really thought she would be a single mom, but the father of her child took off a few months ago. She had been raised by a capable single mother, which made her think she could do it too.

Only I had never planned to be single. Her dad was in her life for a while. He was there when she was born and he was ecstatic about being a father. Eric loved her to pieces. He had sung her Swedish lullabies as an infant. Since he had always been more of a night owl than me, he hadn't minded getting up with her in the middle of the night when she was teething. Unfortunately, he couldn't comfort nurse her the way I could so I usually found myself awake too. He was there for her first day of school. Eric was so patient when it came to Gen learning how to read and do simple arithmetic. He never minded sitting at the dining room table, helping her figure out addition and subtraction with whatever snack food was handy that could be used for counting. They had a good, solid relationship.

I was worried about Genesis having to do it all alone. I knew how hard it was. Of course she was capable, but the point was that I didn't want her to have to go through it alone.

"Hello!" Genesis called out when she walked through the front door.

I smiled at my daughter. She had grown to be tall like her dad was. The older she got, the more I saw him in her. It wasn't easy since he had just up and disappeared. Back in September of 1992 he left on a business trip to San Francisco. The last time I talked to him he had pulled off the road in some little town outside of Bakersfield for gas. He never made it to San Francisco and he never came home. His credit cards had been used a few times but that was all the way in Flagstaff. Eventually, his car had been discovered in Arkansas, burnt out and without a body in it.

Near as anyone could tell, my husband had just vanished.

Of course, it wasn't that simple. Something always happened. At this point, I was sure he was dead. There was no activity on his social security number. He hadn't held a job in years. I never had a reason to think he wanted to leave me and Genesis, especially Genesis. We were happy together. Genesis was eight when he dad disappeared. My poor baby sat up night after night, waiting in the living room window for him to magically appear and come home. It was hard on both of us not having him around.

"It smells good in here," Genesis commented.

"Thanks. I'm making Veronica's spaghetti."

"Extra oregano," my daughter supplied with a cringe.

"Something wrong with that? You love Veronica's spaghetti."

"Third trimester, Mom. I get heartburn just thinking about it."

I smiled and said, "Lucky for you, I picked up some antacid so you should be... well, not good as new, but able to eat."

"You think of everything, Mom. Oh by the way, Jessica finally got the pictures back from her wedding."