Coincidence or Something Else?

Amanda and Aunt Joni At The Zoo

On Monday of this week, my older son, Scott, dropped by our house for a visit.  He, Patrick and I started discussing the "good old days".  I am not sure what triggered a conversation about a trip we made to the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo in their younger years. But we had a nostalgic discussion about a zoo trip when my niece, Amanda, was here visiting us.

Amanda is my sister's daughter.  She lived in New York. She loved visiting our local zoo and we usually went each time she came to visit. When she was younger, she called the animals “aminals” and she was never through looking at them when time came to leave. She would announce in a persuasive tone that she wasn’t through seeing the "aminals"!   I can still hear that sweet little voice pleading to stay longer!

The trip we were discussing on Monday was an especially memorable one as it was an "X" rated trip. It seems mating season was on for about every cage. Amanda was full of questions and her mother, Marilyn, had to be creative and quick in her explanations as to why the “aminals” were behaving that way.

Being creative and quick was never difficult for Marilyn. She had some great explanations!

Of course we always took a few pictures of our zoo trips. It is fun to look back on those visits. Sweet Marilyn left us several years ago and I still miss her everyday.   Amanda is now a grown and beautiful woman with a husband, Rob, and a new home in Stamford, Connecticut.  As you can see, I have aged a bit….but the memories are still fresh.

After Scott left, I came downstairs to check my e-mails. I opened one from Paul, my brother in law and Amanda’s father. I nearly fell out of my chair.

Guess what it contained?

This photo of Amanda and me at the zoo the year of the “X” rated visit.

Now Paul has had this photo for 25 years or more!
I had never seen it before.
Why did it surface in New York on that day?
What motivated him to share it at that time on that day?

Marilyn, have you moved from feathers to relaying messages?

Was it coincidence or something else?

I wonder………………