It’s from 1968.
A young man and a young woman in their church clothes, each holding a shovel, standing in an empty lot. The young man has dark hair slicked back and a narrow tie and a grin like he’s just gotten away with something. The young woman is wearing a white dress with little blue flowers on it and a pillbox hat, and she’s holding her shovel like she isn’t quite sure which end goes in the ground.
Behind them, there’s nothing but dirt. And a hand-painted sign on a wooden stake.
FUTURE HOME OF FARMERS & MERCHANTS BANK.
Nobody ever looks at it.
People walk past it every day. They come in out of the rain and stamp their feet on the mat right under it. They wait in line with their backs to it. Nobody ever looks.
I looked at it then.
The young woman in the picture was smiling so big.
