The Tin Box

Annaleigh is standing underneath the willow, peering towards the house as the branches of the tree coincide with the whipping of her long copper hair against the wind. The baby blue paint is peeling away from the old body of the farmhouse, falling onto the sun bleached flooring of the wrap-around porch. Although she stands twenty feet away, she can still hear the dissonant rattling of the fan blades that hang lazily above the line of rocking chairs facing towards the east side of the house.

Sucking the last ember of her cigarette before throwing it down, crunching it with her worn work boot. She apathetically climbs up the steps, then swings the screen door open, allowing it to slam behind her as she walks into the hallway. 

There's chitter-chatter between two women in the next room. One voice being that of a younger woman, full of energy, enthusiasm, and life. The other being that of a weathered, tired soul. Annaleigh pauses briefly, taking a deep breath with her eyes closed, attempting to compose herself. She plasters a cheeky smile on her face and then turns the corner.

"Well, hello little bug," the older woman manages to get out between labored breaths.

"Good afternoon, Nanny! How are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm doing just fine."

The younger woman promptly stands up from the wheelchair. She had been fixing the older woman's pant leg.

"Good morning, Miss. Annaleigh," she nods obediently with her hands crossed in front of her waist.

"Good morning, Rosa. May we talk for a moment, please?" 

"Oh, yes, of course," she responds,  patting the older woman on the shoulder, leaning down to her eye level, "I will be in the next room if you need me, alright Mrs. Phyllis?" The old woman smiles and nods, pleasantly entertained by the fidget blanket sitting on her lap.

--

Annaleigh softly closes the door, leaving her and Rosa to speak privately amongst themselves. 

" So how is she doing this morning?" Annaleigh whispers.

"She is doing well today. As you know, somedays her brain can be a little bit more scrambled than others, but today she is rather cognitive," Rosa reassures.

"I understand that it's only going to get worse from here. Eventually, she will need a more progressive care plan. I promised her when she was still lucid that I would not put her away. The only option I have would be to move in, so that I would be able to help lighten your workload. What do you think?"

" I would greatly appreciate it, Miss. Annaleigh. Your grandmother is a good one, but some days she can be overbearing."

Annaleigh gives the health-aide a gentle pat on her back, "I appreciate you, Rosa. I'll be moving into the spare bedroom by this weekend and that should help at least a little bit." 

The two women walk back into the living room. Annaleigh kneels down close to the old woman, "I'll see you later, Nanny. Be good for Ms. Rosa."

The old woman looks up, blissfully unaware of her rapidly deteriorating brain, "Who are you sweety?" 

She just smiles at the old woman sitting perplexed in front of her.

--

Unfortunately for Annaleigh, her grandmother was a hoarder. The spare room was scattered with decades worth of junk her grandmother couldn't seem to throw away or sell.

She manages to get most of the clutter put away in boxes and bags before noon. All that was left to clean was the old oak dresser sitting in the corner of the room. Opening the drawers to older clothing ridden with moth holes and mold. Annaleigh scrunches her face at the smell as she pulls the trash bag closer. Holding her breath, she scoops the contents up with gloved hands and plops it into the trash bag. 

There is a heart-shaped tin box hidden in the back of the drawer, underneath all of the mess. She picks it up for further inspection. Happy Valentine's day is engraved on the front with the silhouette of what once appeared to be roses, now faded and worn down with age, leaving nothing more than a darkened blob of dirt against a dull silver background. 

The lid easily pops open despite the rust encircling the lip. She curiously thumbs through the folded pieces of paper crammed inside. A picture of her grandparents lay at the bottom, grandpa in his military uniform standing behind grandma, arms embracing her ever growing belly. Her grandmother must have been about seven months pregnant at the time, presumably with Annaleigh's mother. The corners of her mouth curl up into a smile as if she had just found the most precious treasure the world has to offer. She had never met her grandfather due to the fact that in 1944, he left for Normandy and never came home. 

--

Annaleigh walks up to the old woman sitting in her chair in front of the television, grabbing an ottoman and taking a seat next to her. 

“ Do you know what this is, Nanny?” she questioned, holding the tin box up close to her grandmother’s face so that she could see what she was holding. 

The old woman grinned from ear to ear, eyes beaming with a softness only love can bring. 

“ Oh, of course I do my little bug. A woman doesn’t forget the love of her life,” she intertwines her frail fingers around the box, caressing it with fondness, “ My Harold gave me this for our last Valentine's day together. The war took him away from me not even a year later. He never got the chance to meet your momma. I was all alone to provide for us, so I was working down at the mill to pay the bills. You should have seen me, big belly and all,” she rubs her softening tummy and chuckles innocently, taking a moment to catch her breath while watching Annaleigh pop the lid and taking out the picture nestled inside, handing it to the old woman.

“ Oh, he was a sweet man. He would have absolutely adored you and you would have him too. Sometimes the outcome of life isn’t fair, leaving us broken and trying to glue the pieces back together so we can just move on like nothing ever happened,” she embraces the picture as if the man were standing in its place. “ He had the darkest eyes, like a little puppy, with so much love inside of him. I’m not sure how he didn’t just burst at the seams,” the old woman pats Annaleigh on the hand with tear-filled eyes.

“ Would you like to go outside to get some fresh air, Nanny?”

“ Oh, I would absolutely love that, dear.”

Annaleigh stands up, unlocking the chair out of place, “ Well, I’ll roll you down to the lake then. Get you out of this house for a little bit. I know seeing the same four walls day in and day out is suffocating.”

“Mhm,” the old woman nods in agreement.

--

They stop at a wooden bench overlooking the water. Annaleigh makes sure the lock is on the wheels of the chair before taking a seat. Both women, consumed by serene silence, sits and listens quietly to the squealing of cranes flying above. Even though it was the dead of summer, the old woman clenches her blanket and pulls it tighter around her shoulders as if she were out in freezing temperatures. 

"I first saw my Harold at the ice cream parlor downtown," the old woman's voice penetrates the silence.

"Oh really, I didn't know that!" Annaleigh over exclaims. The truth is, she has heard this story over a dozen times, but enjoyed the warm feeling that cloaked over her as she listened to her grandmother remember.

"Oh, yes, little bug. I haven't told you about this? Shame on me," she playfully slaps the back of her own hand as if to scold herself for being so careless.

"It was Larry's home goods at the time. Now, I think it's just an old laundromat. Anyways. The kids went down to grab ice cream or a sweet and hang out for a bit with their friends. They would just prop their bicycles up on the brick and head on in. You can't do that anymore since the times have changed."

"No ma'am, you cannot," Annaleigh is patiently sitting with her hands in her lap, listening to the old woman reminisce.

She chuckles, " Anyways, we were allowed to walk down there every Sunday evening after church, my sisters and I. Mama would instruct us to change out of our nice clothes. Then, papa would  give us a couple dollars and would tell us to run along. We always considered it a treat for us, but looking back now, they just wanted us out of the house for a bit.

 I thought this Sunday was like every other one. We were sitting at our booth gossiping how girls do, you know? When a very tall, handsome man walks through the door, smelling up the place with some sort of fancy men's cologne. I'm not sure what it was, but it smelled so good!"

They both giggle, " He had his dark hair slicked back with hair grease, making his brown eyes just shine. Now, I had just turned eighteen at the time, but I didn't understand what love was, I just saw a cute boy and that was that. But when we got up to walk back home, he jumped up in front of us to open the door, like the gentleman that he was. He didn't fancy the idea of three girls walking home alone at dusk, so he walked with us. He never really left my side after that."

The old woman is smiling at the overwhelming nostalgia she was feeling.

" He wrote to me every chance he could, but war is war and sometimes the letters were far and in between.  Then, the letters stopped altogether. We had married before he left, leaving me alone to provide for a newborn, but I don't have any harsh feelings towards him over that. He did what he felt like he needed to do," the old woman is fingering through the yellowing letters inside of the tin box that was still placed on her lap, peeling back the stuck pieces of paper from each other. 

"It was hard after he left us. I picked up as a server down at the diner in the evenings while your great grandmother watched your momma for me until I got home. I eventually moved back into the old homestead with momma and papa so that I could enjoy your momma before she was all grown up too. And then I was blessed with the opportunity of becoming your grandmother in that same old house.

Life isn't a love story, dear. Sometimes you don't get to grow old together. So, you take the time you're given and be grateful that you were lucky enough to have loved at all," the old woman softly taps Annaleigh's hand. 

"I'm tired, little bug. Be a dear and roll me inside so I can take my nap, please."

Annaleigh stands up abruptly, "Yes, ma'am. I'll do that for you," she gives her a kiss on the forehead and walks her back inside, the two women not sharing another word.

--

Annaleigh rolls the old woman to her room, pulling back the covers, helping her climb into bed.

"Do you need anything, Nanny?"

The old woman looks up, eyes glossed over, face bent with confusion.

"Who are you, dear? And why are you in my room?"

Annaleigh's eyes fill with tears as she nods, walking away and gently closing the door behind her.