My 8-Year-Old Granddaughter Pointed at the Boy in My Old Prom Photo and Said, ‘Grandma, He Gives Me Extra Dessert at School’ – He’d Been Gone for 42 Years, and She Handed Me Something That Made Me Go Pale

“The cleaner in the cafeteria. The new one.”

I stared at her.

“What are you talking about?”

“He looks like this.”

“Ellie, this picture is forty-two years old.”

She studied it again.

“Well… he looks older than this.”

I almost laughed.

“Obviously.”

Then she frowned.

“Maybe it’s his dad.”

I reached for the album.

“Why would you even think you know him?”

Ellie shrugged.

“He asked me if my grandma’s name was Laura.”

My hand froze.

The attic suddenly felt much smaller.

“What?”

“He asked if my grandma was named Laura.”

“When?”

“A few days ago.”

“What exactly did he say?”

“He asked if you went to Westbrook High.”

I stared at her.

“What did you tell him?”

“That I thought so.”

My heart began beating faster.

“What’s his name?”

“I think Tom.”

Not David.

Of course not David.

David had been dead for forty-two years.

Ellie pointed at the photograph again.