Gemotions

The cold tile of the bathroom floor felt strangely comforting as Emily sat with the photograph. She was feeling alive with curiosity and uncertainty, her fingers tracing the edge of the image. Her grandmother, the woman who had always been a source of unwavering support, was standing on a pier, arm in arm with a man who was not her grandfather.

The sea breeze must have been lovely. The ocean seemed beautiful. But the family history had said her grandmother was a homebody, not a woman who would have been traveling with other men. This photograph was a breach in her history.

The picture was captioned, "Margaret and David, 1950." The details felt important. She sat, breathing deeply.