OLWG# 425 Prompt: What the hell was I thinking?

One Summer I  helped my Great Grandma Agnella move some of her paintings and portraits covered in dust cloths  from the basement to her sitting room. That was the last Summer Nan would be with us and I’m guessing that’s why she wanted the pictures upstairs where she could see them.

I brought them to where she was sitting in her rocking chair near the window, she examined each one after I uncovered it, she looked around the room and told me where to hang them.

” You know, we Macdowells were the first in town to have modern conveniences like cars and television sets and even in door plumbing. But do you know what we didn’t have?” Nan asked me.

My Nan sat in her chair, working her jaw from side to side- her face was wrinkley and she was pale but her green eyes were unnaturally bright.

I could tell that this one thing  that we didn’t have really, really did bothered  her.

”  A family portrait. I couldn’t get my sister or my  Dad  my good for nothing Uncle George to sit for a family portrait.  I had pictures of their dogs and cars and a cabin that we had up on Camano Island, but no family portraits and EVERYBODY around here had at least one of those. Everybody except for us. ”

When Nan said ” except ” I could hear her grinding her teeth together.

To be honest, I couldn’t imagine anyone on this side of the Grave telling Nan ” no ” for any reason.

I hung the pictures as the afternoon wore on and it did take time because the pictures had to be hung in exactly the right spot. I didn’t mind putting the time in. I’m kind of particular about things myself.

Finally there was one last portrait left and it was covered in a gray sheet. It had a little mold on it.

“Well Cami, eventually I got what I wanted.”

That came as no surprise to me.

” I got them to sit for a family portrait. I kept telling them it wouldn’t kill them to dress halfway decent and sit for a picture but guess what. ”

She reached out and slid the cover off of the picture of her Dad and her Sister and her good for nothing Uncle sitting on the settee that is still in her living room. Their eyes were closed and they looked dusty and very , very dead.

” It did kill them- what can I say? Most of the time I’m right but sometimes I’m wrong.”