Angie moved first as Tina lingered at the door taking in the entire store. Things were piled everywhere with no real organization. Tina smiled at the storekeeper as she moved in the opposite direction of her daughter. She slowly made her way through the store, losing sight of Angie as she wondered aimlessly down the aisle. It was getting late. Bette was in charge of dinner and was expecting them home soon, but they hadn’t found anything that seemed appropriate for this special year.

“Feel free to pick up things,” Tina heard the storekeeper say in Angie’s direction and catching the storekeeper move behind the counter in the corner of her eye. Tina turned and looked more closely at the woman who appeared young at first glance, but upon a closer look the wrinkles around her eyes gave away a life lived fully.

Tina turned back around slowly noticing a bookshelf. She casually made her way towards it, picking up an item here and there along the way. As she approached the bookshelf her eyes scanned the books reading the titles to herself. She slowly reached out and ran her finger along the leather bindings. The books were old and dusty. Tina always looked for old things that held current significance, again for Bette and her sentimental perspective.

“Mom,” Tina heard Angie call out. “Come here.”

Tina slowly made her way towards Angie’s voice. She moved up to the storekeeper who was now arranging hair pins on a tray. Tina paused at the counter leaning over to get a closer look. She then lifted up her eyes and smiled again at the storekeeper as she stepped back and made her way towards Angie.

“Angie?” Tina called out, not seeing Angie anywhere.

“Over here,” Tina heard Angie respond from a room adjacent to the room Tina was in.

Tina entered the room that had another large bookshelf. Angie was standing next to it in front of a table.

“Hey,” Tina said as she moved up next to Angie. There was a large shoe box sitting on the table filled with postcards.