Next to the binder is a copy of my grandpa’s journal, which by this time has been published in Germany. A second copy of the book is tabbed with multi-colored post-it notes marking the locations of landmarks still standing. The museum’s proprietor brings it along in order to point out buildings as they exist today. A local reporter and photographer for the community newspaper have been invited by the tour guide to accompany on what I now understand to be a notable occasion. The photographer stops the group to stage a scene depicting the moment when I am shown one of the buildings in the book and snap a photo of it myself. A picture inside a picture inside a picture, window frame echoing past, present, future. The tour guide, practiced in his pose from previously hosted visits, gestures precisely for the news camera, angling the book and his upward gaze for dramatic effect.
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