while fruitlessly walking downstream from my in-laws’ residence looking for anything left of what was a beautiful home, I realized it was dusk and began to walk back. Then I saw half-way sticking out of the caked dried mud a pic of someone familiar, playfully scowling while holding a baby. I dug it out carefully, put on my reading glasses, and suddenly realized it was me with my firstborn, a 25-year-old pic I had never seen before.

My wife and I had met the leader of the “mud Angels” earlier that morning and I remembered them talking about the “spiritual” presence of my Mom-in-law at the sites where some of her things were previously found. I tried not to roll my eyes but my wife noticed and said: “He doesn’t believe in that stuff…”.

I said I believed in mud angels though.

There were other pics I found, they were bundled under one that was face down next to my shoe, I turned it around and there she was, the sweetest person I have ever known. Odd pic, because she was almost always photographed smiling. Odd for another reason, the pic was the least damaged of the bunch. So yeah, I’m rethinking my beliefs about that spiritual stuff.

I’m guessing this is how she is looking down at me now…