* * * the faculty offices are little more than cubicles there are pictures thumb-tacked up to the soft walls of her office pictures her students her childhood her graduation from sarah lawrence pictures of her sitting on the lawn with her father he is dead now has been dead for a long time but in the picture taken so many years ago he seems vital and full of life like he will live forever in another picture taken years later she is wearing cut-off shorts and has her hair pulled back and she does n't look anything like her at the time fifty-odd years she wonders if she looks much older now dc is n't in any of the pictures he usually took them himself he insisted on being the one to hold the camera to craft the image and as a result he is n't in any of the pictures well that 's how it goes now is n't it she touches the photos with the tips of her fingers against the glossy surfaces .