Turning the pages, Maria continued to take pleasure in the many pictures of James’s youth. They were completely out of order, as the next batch revealed his grade school years. She giggled and announced that he had been an adorable little boy. James smiled. He would breathe easier when they finished with the album.
Somewhere near the middle of the album, they came upon a picture that made him gasp. He knew the woman in the photo had to be his mother. It had been taken at Easter while James searched for eggs in the neighbor’s back yard. He had been just four years old, but he recalled that morning. With his father stationed elsewhere at the time, it had just been the two of them. Arising early, his mother had taken him across the street to look for eggs with the neighbor kids. The photo sh
