What Time Cannot Wash Away

Eleanor sat on her back porch, watching seven-year-old Lily bounce on the toes of her sneakers, that glowing rectangle in her hand.

"Great-Grandma, look!" Lily chirped, thrusting the iPhone toward Eleanor's face. "Mommy says you went to Egypt once. Did you see the pyramid?"

The word hit Eleanor like a warm wave. She adjusted her glasses and peered at the screen, where a stone triangle rose from golden sand.

"That I did, sweet pea. Back in 1973, your great-grandfather and I stood right where that photo was taken."

Eleanor's hands found the worn armrests of her chair. In her mind, she was fifty years younger, hand in hand with Henry, their cheeks pressed together as a stranger snapped their photograph. The pyramids had been there for four thousand years, and they would be there for four thousand more. They outlasted everything. They outlasted Henry.

"Was he handsome?" Lily asked, as if reading her thoughts.

"The handsomest." Eleanor smiled, then gestured toward the pool beyond the yard. "Just like your father was when I taught him to go swimming in that very pool. He was so scared of the water, you know. Clung to my neck like a frightened monkey."

Lily giggled.

"And every summer," Eleanor continued, "old Buster would trot along the edge, barking at us, thinking he had to rescue everyone." She shook her head gently. "That dog lived to be seventeen. Can you believe it?"

"Will you live to be seventeen, Great-Grandma?"

Eleanor reached out, her palm weathered and spotted with age, and covered Lily's smooth, small hand.

"Oh, I hope not, darling. That would make me a hundred and thirty-two." She squeezed those soft fingers. "But I'll tell you a secret. Some things don't need years to last. The love I felt for your great-grandfather? The love I feel for you? That's my pyramid, Lily. Stone upon stone, built with nothing but time."

Lily studied her great-grandmother's face, then looked back at the iPhone in her hand, suddenly understanding that some pictures weren't taken with cameras at all.

"Can we take a picture of us?" Lily asked. "Like a pyramid?"

Eleanor pulled her close. "Yes, sweet pea. Exactly like a pyramid."