After unpacking the last of the boxes I collected from Mom's closet, I went to the living room to watch some the old VHS tapes I had found and wind down for the night. I chose a tape at random, inserted it into my player, and hit the Play button. I sat down on the couch and kicked my feet up, patiently waiting on the grey fuzz to stop and for the video to begin. After a moment the picture came to life, the quality better than what I expected.

It was easy to recognize Mom at the start of the video. She was glowing of youth and happiness it seemed. Laura, my older sister, was just a chunky little baby at the time. Laura kept trying to stick her stubby little fingers into the cake while Mom and Dad were singing her, "Happy Birthday." Kudos to you, Laura, for losing all that baby fat before high-school. I wish I had been that lucky.

I kept watching the video for a few minutes before getting sick of all the lovey dovey things Mom and Dad kept whispering to each other. I never realized they were such romantics before. Wonder when they stopped acting like this and why. I felt guilty for being thankful that they had stopped acting like this by the time I came along. I just don't do the whole love thing very well – I find it much too awkward. I do wish Mom had been this happy the rest of her life though.

I quickly ejected the tape and replaced it with another one at random.

It was evident that this particular tape was from my first birthday party. Everything was so similar to Laura's party. She kept trying to sneak the icing off of my cake while our parents sang, "Happy Birthday", to me. Laura was clearly the more outgoing one between the two of us; she was always fighting to be in the spotlight. Dad didn't seem to know who to focus the camcorder on and instead kept shifting between Mom, Laura, and I. If Laura and I would have just cooperated a little, we both could have all been in the video the entire time but neither one of us could sit still long enough or get along with each other.

Just as I began to get up to change to a different video, I caught a glimpse of a man peering in the kitchen window in the video. Curiosity had gotten the best of me as I hurried to get up to rewind and pause the tape.

It was hard to make out the face in the window; the video wasn't focused on what was going on in the background. From what I could make out, the man actually looked a lot my Dad. The stranger had the same skin tone and facial features it seemed. They both had a distinctive large, bird beak of a nose and squinted eyes. I hesitated for a moment, nervous, then clicked Play again and watched the rest of the video but never saw the man in it again. I figured it must have been a peeping Tom or something but I couldn't shake a nagging feeling from the back of my mind.

I gave up on the idea that watching these videos would help me relax but for curiosity sake, I put in another tape and hit Play.

The video I had chosen seemed to be Laura's first unofficial game of T-ball. She couldn't have been older than three or four and she still had that same chubbiness of baby Laura. After Laura had her turn to swing the bat, Dad moved the camcorder away from her game to focus on Mom. I was in Mom's lap, still just a small babe at this time. Mom was all smiles. Her hair was down, slightly blowing in the breeze and her cheeks were flushed. She looked so healthy, so happy. Dad leaned in to give Mom a kiss at this point, the camcorder forgotten. The video was all fuzzy and shaky for a moment but then cleared up and was focused on the people sitting behind us.

My heart skipped a beat as I recognized the same man from the previous video sitting exactly two rows behind Mom and I. Too fast did my parents kiss end and the video quickly return to the game. Once again I got up, rewound, and paused the video to see the man in the background. He looked exactly like my father except he didn't have the horn-rimmed glasses that Dad always worn and was missing the bald spot on the top of his head. Whoever the man was, he was staring right at the camcorder pointed at him with what could only be described as a snarl on his face.

My heart was pounding. I could feel my blood pressed rising just by studying the man. I was completely unsettled. Sure, the fact that I'd seen the same stranger in our home videos twice now was creepy but these videos are at least to twenty years old now. I'm not sure why I was so upset seeing this, nothing ever happened from it. At least, not that I remember and I can't remember Mom or Dad ever saying anything about it.

I ejected the tape and threw it down. For whatever reason, everything just felt wrong to me. I could feel panic starting to swell up inside of me. I slowly counted my breath as the logical part of me scolded myself for being so emotionally and illogical over seeing a stranger in our home videos. I knew feeling this way was silly. This wasn't a horror movie, it was just a coincidence. I lived with my parents for nineteen years. I know for a fact that nothing bad was going to happen to the family because I lived it. The stranger was probably just an unhappy neighbor of ours, or something.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

To prove a point to myself, I chose another tape to watch.

Mom was pushing toddler me on a baby swing at the park while Laura swung herself as high as she could go just to jump out of the swing and do it all over again. Mom and Dad seemed so happy being together. They were totally relaxed. I can't remember Mom ever smiling or laughing so much in my whole life.

I was already feeling better once I noticed how peaceful and innocent this video was. Laura finally got tired of swinging and starting asking Dad about different leaves that were on the ground and what type of tree they came from. After a few moments of studying the oak tree by the swing-set with Laura, Dad turned and used to camcorder to pan across the park, happily pointing out the names of all the different trees in the park to Laura.

A chill ran down my spine and I could feel the hair on my arms stand alert as I recognized that same man from previous videos, not too far off, playing with a small puppy. This time, the man was wearing the same horn-rimmed glasses that my Dad wears and he even had a very small bald spot forming on the top of his head. The puppy that the man was playing with even looked identical to, Buster, the first dog Dad brought home for Laura and I.

The tape soon came to an end with Dad and Laura walking past the strange man to look at a cherry blossom up close.

I sat in front of the T.V. for several moments watching the grey fuzz run across the screen before I got a hold of myself once more. Too curious to stop, I grabbed another tape to play.

Laura and I were gathered around the kitchen table. We were impatiently waiting to blow out the candles on another one of my birthday cakes. Mom was rushing around the kitchen putting party hats on everyone. As she goes over to Dad, I realize this tape isn't like the others. For once, Mom looked like the mom I remember her to be. She had worry lines across her forehead and her lips were down-turned. When she did smile, it never reached her eyes. She looked perpetually sad. Mom and Dad didn't talk much during the video, instead focusing all of their attention completely on me, the birthday girl. Near the end of the video, Dad ordered everyone to get together as he sat the camcorder on the top of counter and pointed it at us. He joined us and sat Laura and I on his lap before singing, "Happy Birthday", one more time as my party came to an end. He kissed Mom, Laura, and I before going back and turning the camcorder off. Mom didn't move to kiss back nor did she move away from the kiss. Laura looked really confused but kissed Dad on the cheek and hugged him, grateful for the attention. I made Dad give me two extra kisses because it was my birthday and I had just turned three and therefore got more than everyone else.

The man in all that last video was definitely the dad I've always known. At the same time, he was also the man looking in our window, the man at Laura's ball game, and the man with the puppy at the park.

Before my mind could even begin to process all of this, the phone rang loudly, pulling me back to reality. I turned off the T.V. and grabbed the phone. I instantly recognized the number as my old home number. Mom and Dad's number. Well, just Dad's number now.

"Hi, Daddy," I answered, a little too quickly.

"Hello, Al,” Dad replied. “I was calling to see if you found any VHS tapes in those boxes you took from your mom's closet. Some of them had old home videos of your mother that I was hoping to watch. I miss her dearly and I was hoping those would help ease the pain," Dad calmly stated, his voice resonating in my ears.

"No, I just got her clothes and some of the knickknacks she had stored away. Do you want me to come over and help you look for the tapes?"

"That won't be necessary Al, just get some rest. You deserve it. I don't know what I would've done without you. Laura will be in town late tomorrow and I'll have her help me look so don't worry about it. I love you honey."

"Love you too," I manage to squeak out before hanging up the phone.