Gemotions

He found them tucked away in a shoebox under his father’s bed: photographs of a young woman with a vibrant smile, clinging to a man who wasn't his mother. The stories of his parents’ enduring love, of meeting in the war and marrying shortly after, suddenly felt fragile. James sat on the edge of the bed, the shoebox resting in his lap.

A tightness gripped his chest. His father had always been so stoic, so reserved. Seeing him in these images, young and carefree, his arm around a laughing woman, evoked a surprising wash of understanding. He imagined the ache of a lost love, the quiet pain his father must have carried.

He closed the lid gently. Later, he would ask his father, not in accusation, but with a question laced with compassion.