Epilogue, Part II
Inside the Shoebox4 November 1960
Durban, South Africa
The box was open.
The girl heard the sound of her own gasp as she gazed at the myriad of colors, inhaled the exotic aromas and let her fingers lightly touch the different textures of the overlapping treasures.
Now this was a birthday surprise.
She gently, reverently lifted out the first item and established her shoebox ritual. She savored, smelled and touched with just the very tips of her fingers while her vivid imagination conjured up her own reality.
—A brown and white photograph of three women. Her eyes homed in on the pretty girl in the middle. She was old—sixteen or so—with long, wavy hair and a smile so big it forced her eyes closed. She liked the girl instantly. Two black women flanked her, one large an
