Chapter 1

Barbara's tears fell on the white pillow case. After sobbing for several minutes, she reflected on what she had heard. She couldn't have imagined that comments regarding a photograph that had been taken twenty-years ago--nearly half a lifetime ago--could hurt so much.

The photograph of Gordon and her displayed in the antique, sterling silver frame that sat on the grand piano in the study, was her favorite. It had been snapped at the beach. They were hugging each other and smiling. She wore a modest one-piece bathing suit but it did little to hide her perfect figure. They were about as attractive as a couple could be. It was what had been said, a few minutes earlier, about that picture that caused her to run to her room and bury her head in her pillow.

"Who's the fox in the photo with your dad?" Asked Troy, Megan's new boyfriend. Troy was a junior and Megan was a sophomore at state college. Barbara thought they may be getting serious. She remembered that she was also a sophomore, but Gordon had been a senior, when she met his family and he met hers for the first time. She never became a junior because they were married when Gordon graduated, then she worked full-time to put him through law school.

Neither Megan nor Troy knew that Barbara was standing just around the corner from the study, or they would never have said what they did.

They weren't being cruel, just candid. Barbara hadn't intended to eavesdrop on their conversation but she clearly heard every word.

"That's my mom in the photo with my dad," answered Megan.

"You must be kidding! Well, tell me... what happened to her? Did she get sick or something?" "No," Megan sighed, then, with a touch of embarrassment, she explained.

"She just got old." "Gee Meg, your dad looks better today than he did in the picture but...

. your mom... well she must have gained a lot of weight and the grey hair sure doesn't help," he said candidly and sympathetically.

"Yeah," Megan agreed. "She doesn't take care of herself like she used to when I was a little girl. She never goes to the beauty parlor anymore," she said. We've sort of given up... neither of us push her anymore, maybe we should," said Megan.

"How old are your folks?" Asked Troy.

"My dad's forty-five, mom's forty-three." "Forty-three! I can't believe it, my mom's older than that... you've seen her, she's still hot." Megan sighed again and turned away from Troy. She wished this unpleasant conversation would end. "She really is forty-three, Troy, like I told you. I know, I know she looks much older than that. I guess some people just age faster than others." "I'll say. She looks more like sixty. Too bad." Barbara couldn't bear to just stand there and listen to one more word.

She turned and ran to the master bedroom that she had shared with Gordon since they moved into the house fifteen years ago. She remembered that when they moved into the house she still looked very much as she did in the picture on the piano. She was trim, well groomed, some called her beautiful. Not just Gordon, he had to say that she was beautiful because he was her husband, but she knew that others frequently referred to her as beautiful. Then, she was tall, elegant and moved gracefully. Back then, long brown, glistening hair crowned her head and framed her gorgeous face. Her big eyes were brown, her complexion creamy and without a blemish.