Ingrid Anne Nicholson

Photo used from Bill Sullivan's Turnstile Photography Project.

This is a fictional story written about the lady photographed above by Bill Sullivan, and what her life was like surrounding the time this picture was taken.

Do you know this lady? No, no I'm sorry. Of course you don't! And I think I can make a pretty good assumption that she doesn't know you either. I'd introduce you to her more formally, but she wouldn't be so kind as to stop and shake your hand at the moment. Time is not always on her side! This is Ingrid Anne Nicholson; mother of three, and unknowingly, soon to be the ex-wife of Michael Roberts. She is a plain, sad woman with just enough money to make ends meet. The stressful life that she leads is beginning to show on her face as well.
On this day, her youngest child, Anthony, who turned thirteen last Thursday, forgot his gym bag at home that he would need later that afternoon for his basketball game. Having started his teen years, his mother believed he would become more mature and responsible. This, however, was the fifth time in two weeks that he’s forgotten his gym bag.
Ingrid’s middle child, Abigail-Lynn is fourteen years old, but in her eyes, she is still a seven year old child. The maturation of her daughter both scares and depresses her. Through these feelings, Ingrid feels the need to shelter her to keep her young, and finds that she accomplishes this through shopping for her, buying her things like faerie figurines and butterfly sheets. If you were to walk into her room, you’d surely drown in a sea of pink ruffles. Abigail hated this of her mother, and avoided being with her at all costs. This only made Ingrid’s desire to be closer to her daughter stronger, and on this particular day she decided to visit one of her favorite “little girl stores,” as Abby calls them, called Rainbow. Ingrid usually only stops there for her annual Christmas shopping, but when she walked past the street window, she saw the most adorable ballerina outfit that would be perfect for Halloween, and she simply could not pass it up. She was sure that Abby would just love her for it!
After her little shopping excursion, Ingrid received a call from her twenty-one year old son, Sam, who is currently attending college. He apologized to her about not being able to make it to the traditional Friday night sit-down-with-the-family dinner because he had a date with his new girlfriend. This put a damper on her already not-so-exciting day and she yelled at him for planning dates on days he knew were “off-limits.” She was not one for change in her life and hated when she wasn’t able to control things. The last thing she wanted was for her close relationship with her oldest son to be broken over some tall, blonde college peer of his. She wouldn’t have it!
On her second to last stop of the day on the subway, her phone rang. It was Michael, and as she began to explain to him that Sam wasn’t going to make it to dinner that night, he cut her short. He confessed that he was not going to make it to dinner either, for he too had a date, but with someone who was unknown to her. And as he began to admit to what he had done to her, Ingrid’s breath fell short. With her son’s black gym bag over her shoulder, and her daughter’s under-aged present in her hands, she slowly pulled her cell phone away from her ear and closed it, as she walked through the subway’s exit-ways. Which brings us back to the photo above. This is Ingrid Anne Nicholson. It’s been a pleasure being your porthole for this evening. Have a nice day.