Muse Magic

Tammy forced herself to step inside her guest house for the first time since her mother lost her battle with cancer. Betty moved in following her divorce, seven years ago. Tammy couldn’t even look at the house without getting emotional. Tammy was thankful, in a way, that Betty went quick, having watched her grandmother suffer from the disease for three years.

The bedroom closet was full of clothes from when Tammy was a teenager, and at least forty pair of shoes. Didn’t this woman get rid of anything? She would give her daughter a chance to look through them before donating them.

She pulled down pink box from the shelf it sat on in the back of the closet. It looked like an old make-up case. Grace must have read the note Tammy hung on the fridge because she walked in and sat on the bed next to Tammy.

Tammy gave her a sad smile, “Go see if you want any of Grandma’s clothes.”

Tammy opened the make-up case not knowing what was in it. Pictures, mostly of which were Tammy through the years. She got a thrill at seeing the different hair-styles she had worn.

“Mom, who are these people?” Grace handed her a black and white photo of seven women.

Tammy was so lost in her memories that she didn’t hear the question. She immediately recognized her grandmother, May, on her mother’s side. The date on the picture said 1926. Tammy remembered, as a child, May mentioning a friend she grew up with. Not sure of her name.

Tammy pointed to the middle woman, “That’s my grandmother. May.”

“May?” Grace scrunched her face

“It was popular back then,” they both chuckled. “I’m guessing one of these is her best friend. I think her name was, Helen Ters.”

“There’s a Helen Ters in homeroom,” Grace gazed hard at the photo. “I wonder if they’re related?”

Curiosity got the best of Tammy and she gave the picture to Grace to take to school. Grace came home and gave Tammy a phone number to call.

That evening Tammy called the number that could be a connection to her past.