The Lady

She has been in my life since 2004. She first appeared in our home in Gold Bar. We were getting ready to move and I was sorting papers to throw away. A little picture of her appeared. I asked Brad, Cammy, and Jessi if this little picture belonged to them and they said no. I also asked if they had ever seen this picture before and they said no. I threw it away. A day later, I was sorting through a shoe box full of junk and there she was again. I threw her away. The third time she appeared I asked my family if they had taken her out of the trash and they assured me they had not. I threw her away. As I was arranging our belongings in the cabin, she appeared again. I remarked on how the chances of her appearing were above the probability of chance. Yes, I tossed her out again, but this time questions began running through my mind. If this is not chance, what is it? Were there four copies of her throughout our stuff? If this was outside of normal experience; what abnormal experience was it? I was a bit shaken and asked Brad where she could have come from. We agreed the paper was not from a picture, but more like the photos in the frames when you buy them.

She did not appear for a few years after that. In the Spring of 2009, I was sorting files in the spare room and remembered the Lady. I thought about how I had not seen her for a few years and wondered if She had stayed in the trash. I put the files on the desk and went to bed. The next morning, Brad went to work and I looked forward to finishing the spare room. I opened the door and there she was; on the floor in the middle of the room. No papers had slid off the desk, nothing was out of place. She had earned a place in our home. Whatever was the cause of her appearing, She needed to be acknowledged. I took her to a frame shop and picked out a nice frame for her. She sits in our living room and has not moved since.

People have offered explanations for her. One person said She was real and her spirit has returned to her picture. Another stated her appearance was pure chance, nothing more. One person looked at me as if I was crazy and had imagined it. Brad weighed in; it just didn't matter. He liked the picture and was fine with her in the living room. I realized I did not need an explanation to everything. Chaos is our acceptance of the unknown. She has only moved when the cats have knocked her over and I dust her frame now and again. I have been meaning to post this story about her for two years because She reminds me to accept occurances for what they are, without cause, without meaning. Sometimes it just is.

A postscript to the Lady happened about two weeks ago. Cammy asked me why I keep the picture around when we saw an old advertisement for a Barnes & Noble frame and she was in it. There, mystery solved. I told her we had always suspected that she came from an advertisement; that was not the mystery. Cammy thought we should get rid of her as we were trying to cut down on the clutter. I went on to work. When I came home I found her facing to the side. I asked if the cats had been near her. Cammy said no. I reached for her to face her out again and noticed she had a chip on the top of her picture. How did this happen when she has been encased in the frame since 2004? Chaos, She lives it.