Time to Close the Book

Dear Diary,

The family chronicle is now complete. 182 pages of history and photographs and stories. This is the last page in the book and shows two portraits my father made of my grandmother and me in 1953 when he first got his new Polaroid Land Camera. The photographs were made on the same day...I was 4 and my grandmother was about 74.

I thought the camera was magic. The way he would peel off the print after only a minute! He had to "fix" it with a smelly substance but there it was for all to see...grammie and me...frozen in time. I found it hard to end the chronicle. How do you really end something that is still going on for all intents and purposes? The words on this page seemed appropriate.

I finally had a definitive say on the captain's stone yesterday as well. It will not be allowed. I can put small in-ground plaques to mark Rebecca's and Mary's graves but nothing for the captain. His virtual stone, I've added it as an extra today, in the chronicle will have to suffice which make this book all the more important to me. His story is told and can be passed on to future generations.

I called the stone carver with the sad news and he was so kind. He joked that he was probably as much enamored by the project as I was. We are kindred spirits I think and I wished him a nautical blessing that I thought the captain would have approved of..."Fair Winds and Following Seas". It is the best we all can hope for.