Gram's Secret

The sunshine of my life." and it was signed " Thomas". Sheila couldn't help but wonder who Thomas was and why she had never heard his name before. Gram had talked about Grandpa George many times, but never anyone by the name of Thomas.

A noise that seemed to come from the kitchen startled her. Telling herself that the house always creaked, and that there was nothing to be frightened of, she continued going through the box. Next she found an old newspaper clipping which told about the young man who was the caretaker at the lighthouse. He had disappeared on night. Rumors in town were that he had grown tired of his position and left without

giving notice .

Later when it was discovered that all of his belongings were left behind, many feared that something tragic had happened to him. As she read on her heart skipped a beat, the young man from the lighthouse was named Thomas Reed. She wondered if he could be the Thomas who gave Gram the photograph? With that Sheila heard another noise from the kitchen and decided she had better check it out. Since the house had been closed up for so long , she worried that mice might have moved in to escape weather or predators. As she neared the kitchen door, the smell of fresh bread baking seemed to fill the air. It made her remember how Gram wasalways baking something in her kitchen. Chalking it up to her imagination, she opened the door. Suddenly she knew that she was not alone. " Who's there ?" she called out into the darkness.

"It's about time you got here child, I've been waiting for you." Sheila nearly fainted, for there in front of her very

eyes stood her grandmother. "Gram!" she cried out as she ran to hug her. As the two embraced one another, the older woman shook her head and said, " My lands child, you act as though you've been gone forever." and then turned back to the stove. "How long have I been gone?" Sheila asked curious to see what her grandmother would say. "You only left the house a couple of hours ago." she answered without even turning around, then added, "Did you enjoy your walk?"Not exactly sure just what was going on, Sheila decided that it was best to go along with whatever Gram said. She wasn't sure if this was a dream, or if she had lost her mind, but either way she was glad to see her grandmother again.As Sheila sat down at the table, she was amazed at the fact that her grandmother looked just like she did before she went into the nursing home. Tears came to her eyes thinking about all of the time that had passed since the two had been together.

Thinking about the box of photos she had found, Sheila asked Gram about Thomas. Immediately her grandmother stopped what she was doing and sat down. After a moment of silence she asked, "Have you been going through my special box, Sunshine?" Sheila was taken back for a minute, she had almost forgotten that Sunshine was Gram's pet name for her. "Yes ma'am." she answered softly. "Thomas Reed " , her grandmother began.

"I haven't heard that name in years."

" Was he an old boyfriend?"

A certain look came over Gram's face. The beauty of that young girl in the photograph became apparent .

"It was the summer of my sixteenth birthday when he took over as caretaker at the lighthouse.