Family Pictures

There was a family reunion a few weekends ago, or maybe it was last weekend. Not sure, don't care. The point is they (the infinite "they" that makes up some or all of Craig's family) had a semi-professional photographer come out to the farm to get family pictures for us. Craig's grandparents aren't in the best of health and everyone is afraid that each family gathering will be their last. No one says that exactly but it is obviously on everyone's mind.

So we had family pictures taken, pictures of the grandparents, of the grandparents with the great-grandkids, of the grandparents with their kids, the with their kids and the kids' spouses, and finally with everyone - EVERYONE. The photographer was great and as for getting copies of the pictures, we paid a small fee (not sarcastic, it really was small) to get a CD of all the shots and the copyright permission to use them.

I was looking through the pictures. They are alright. I've seen better but they serve the purpose. The problem is that I can see the holes. I can see the spots where Katy ought to be. There are just strange gaps where people are standing too far apart. In all of our family photos there is a gap, a spot that just looks weird, a spot where I remember her to have been, back when she was allowed to be real. But in these pictures that were taken at the reunion, there are TWO empty places. There is a place where Katy ought to be standing, over by the rest of us, but there is another empty spot. I don't know who is supposed to be there, who is supposed to be here - alive - and isn't, like Katy. But there is someone else in our family, extended family, who lost someone like I lost Katy. I wonder... do they know? Do they know that whoever they lost is still supposed to be here?

NOTE: THE PRECEDING POST IS FICTION