Violet went through the newest alb.u.ms first. It had been years since she had seen her mother look through these on the anniversary of her family members" deaths. She had been vaguely curious about what the grandmother and uncle she had never met looked like and took a peek over Keeley"s shoulder.
Kaleb looked a lot like his namesake had when he was younger. The biggest difference between them was the color of their eyes. As for her grandma…she had the same smile her daughter and granddaughter had and was blonde like her children.
The alb.u.ms including the entire Hall family started back in 1983 when Robert and Monica got married and went through 2001 when she and Kaleb died. Violet wanted to look at those ones first before she got to the older ones from her grandparents" childhoods.
The outdated puffy sleeves and ridiculously fluffy hair from Monica"s wedding dress were a bit funny to see but the love in her eyes as she gazed at her new husband was undeniable. She was only nineteen when she got married; she must have wanted to be with him more than anything.
The rest of that alb.u.m was filled with pictures from holidays and various other outings such as hiking and to the beach. The Halls had been married for nearly five years before their daughter was born and from the pictures it was clear that they enjoyed that time alone together.
In every photo Monica had on that same familiar bright smile. And Robert looked happier than Violet had ever seen him in real life.
Her heart suddenly ached for her grandpa. He looked at his wife the exact same way her overly sappy father did and he had to live without her for decades. Exactly how long had he lived with her as opposed to without her?
She wanted to know exactly how old they had been when they met so she set the Hall family alb.u.ms aside and opened up one from her grandpa"s childhood. It took her a while to find anything since there were so many alb.u.ms. Her great-grandmother must have really loved sc.r.a.pbooking.
The first picture she found of the two of them had the caption "Robby and Monica, Halloween 1969." He had dressed up as Spiderman and she was dressed up as Cinderella. Violet did the math based on the birthdates she had seen on their headstones. In this picture he was eight and she was five.
Robert had been an only child so his alb.u.ms were entirely focused on him, with a few pictures of cousins and friends mixed in as well. Based on that information, they probably became friends around the time the Halloween picture was taken.
After that first picture of them together, Monica appeared in his childhood alb.u.ms a lot. Wearing elf hats and tacky sweaters at Christmas time. Making a mess of things in the kitchen. Playing on the playground and at the beach.
Despite the differing clothes and hairstyle trends, their pictures together looked an awful lot like ones taken of Violet and Noah when they were younger. Her grandparents must have spent a lot of time together as kids.
The photos continued through middle school and high school. Though other people appeared in Robert"s alb.u.ms as well, Monica was the most frequently photographed friend. There were even photos together at school dances from the one year they were in high school at the same time but not prom since that was for juniors and seniors only.
She noticed that there didn"t seem to be any prom photos in there. Had he not asked anyone since Monica couldn"t go? The way they looked at each other in the photos had subtly changed over time.
They had probably fallen in love at some point in middle school or high school. But there weren"t any photos of them kissing or acting like a real couple until Robert was in college. Had they both had feelings for each other all that time but never said anything? What was the real story there?
Violet wished her grandpa was still around so she could ask him. Tears filled her eyes. From what she had seen in these alb.u.ms, he had loved her grandma so much! No wonder he could never bring himself to talk about her once she was gone.
They met in 1969 and Monica died in 2001. They were at each other"s side constantly for thirty-two years and then he had to live the next thirty-one without her. Violet had the rather romantic notion that Robert couldn"t bear living without her longer than he lived with her and that was why his body finally gave out.
As silent tears ran down her face, she checked Monica"s alb.u.ms and saw basically the same thing she saw in Robert"s. She was also an only child and from the time she was five years old, he was the most frequently occurring friend in her photos.
Birthdays, holidays, random days…there were so many pictures of the two of them! It looked like they practically lived at each other"s houses. Just like Violet and Noah.
How had they ever fallen in love though when they were so close they were practically siblings? The pictures really did make it seem that way. Neither of them had siblings so they filled a void for each other as playmates.
Pictures didn"t tell the whole story. Violet finally called for Kaleb to put in the first DVD she could find. Her mother had already switched it over from the VHS tapes that existed when she was little. Technically really did change so much over time since DVDs had practically become obsolete now.
The first home video was actually taped at Monica and Robert"s wedding. The video quality was terribly grainy but Violet supposed it was a product of its time.
Both of them looked so happy together! People teased them about how they "finally tied the knot" during the recording of the reception. And during their first dance together Monica rested her head against Robert"s chest with a look of pure bliss on her face.
The next home video was a compilation of clips from various daytrips the Halls took before Keeley was born. They teased each other and seemed perfectly comfortable together, which made sense considering how long they had known each other.
Violet was startled to find similarities in the way they interacted to her own friends.h.i.+p with Noah. They had seemed so lovey dovey in the photos and wedding video but the trip footage proved that they really were best friends.
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