I Was Still a Virgin at 26, and Dad Always Warned Me, “Stop Sitting on Grandpa’s Lap and Be Careful Around Him.” I Never Listened… Until Grandpa Came to Me One Night and Asked, “Will You Sleep Beside Me Tonight?”

He sat down slowly.

Dad remained near the doorway.

Neither man seemed willing to speak first.

Finally Grandpa pointed toward the album.

“Open it.”

The first photograph showed a young woman about my age.

For a second, I thought it was me.

Same dark hair.

Same smile.

Even the shape of her eyes looked familiar.

“Who is she?”

Grandpa smiled.

“Your grandmother, Rose. She was twenty-six there.”

My exact age.

I turned the page.

There were photographs of Grandma and Grandpa sitting on a porch.

Another of them beside an old car.

Another showed Grandma asleep in a chair beside a hospital bed.

I looked up.

“What does this have to do with tonight?”

Grandpa took a long breath.

“Tomorrow morning I’m having surgery.”

My heart dropped.

“What surgery?”