My mom's parent's eloped with two other couples. They got married somewhere in Michigan, near a lake house they rented. This is my mom's dad, Clarence, on that day. He was 34.

And I keep thinking that maybe one day I'll peel back that one final layer and I'll be able to see clearly and say with some authority that this, this is Clarence ... but the bottom line is I will never know this man. I will die and he will remain a mystery to me. . . .