Photographs
Follow my story through photographs.
Chapter Two: Family
Toni was always well put together. She wore clothes that covered her entire body-usually a turtleneck or a buttoned-down blouse and a blazer with pants. She often wore large, white, circular clip-on earrings and a matching large, white, beaded necklace that seemed out of place, like it came from a past decade.
Chapter Four: Behind Locked Doors
I could feel every one of her ribs. She was much smaller than I remembered-her frame frail and her body alarmingly thin. Her mouth was full of decaying teeth and her gray hair was overgrown and disheveled. This was so unlike the short, clean-cut style she had always maintained. I was shocked, and at that moment, I felt a little guilty for hating her so much.
Chapter Eleven: Unlocking Truths
I noticed three locked boxes inside the left of the unit that were different from the others. They were sturdy plastic and appeared to be small safes-all requiring a key. Something valuable has to be inside these. I picked them up and stacked them against the white concrete wall behind us. My father tinkered with them for a while, trying his best to open them.
I began to open the plastic bags one by one, dumping the contents onto the concrete floor. The tapes fell one after the other, forming a substantial mound. The sight was shocking to all of us.
Chapter Fourteen: The Big Clean Out
The first thing we always noticed as we walked through Toni's apartment door was a tangy, unidentifiable smell. We could always catch a faint scent as we climbed the steep stairs to her apartment door.
As we moved past the door, it was evident the floors hadn't been washed in almost a decade. There were oily, dark markings on a two-foot-wide path she walked on throughout her apartment. We referred to this as the "racetrack."
"Let's take a selfie," I said to my sister, just before we closed the door to her apartment, one last time. Marisa and I stood in the doorway, filthy, aching, and exhausted, pausing for one last picture. Dust clung to our clothes and sweat still traced our brows. We wrapped our arms around each other and smiled.
Chapter Nineteen: Besties
I looked down at my phone and found the most beautiful words. "My mom wants to go back. She misses Toni." For my aunt's entire life, besides Kyle, I don't think anyone missed Toni that much, ever.
My eyes welled up as I told her, "Teta, Jane is okay. She says she misses you and will be out of the hospital soon"
"I miss her, too."
For current, up-to-date photographs and educational videos, you can find them on my Instagram account @Tanya_T_Memoirist.
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