The science of forensics

Have you heard of Theresa Caputo, the Long Island Medium?
To me, she seems to be an ordinary family woman -- with an extraordinary gift. She uses her powers as a spiritual medium to connect people with loved ones who have passed away. She actually has a television show on the TLC.
Before my mother passed away, I probably wouldn't have given Theresa Caputo or her show a second thought, but as I struggle with accepting my loss, I admit - I am more than interested.

A particularly weird and freaky thing happened to me this week, and thank goodness I have my colleague as a witness, or you probably wouldn't give this a second thought, either.

As the editor of a social magazine, I use many photos in the weekly publication -- many, many. And most of those photos are emailed to me, so I have to save them to a particular folder, which is then picked up by our pre-press department for toning and sizing for newsprint. (I know, a lot of technical jargon.) It's routine, so I rarely even look up at the screen while I'm doing it. I just basically click and save, click and save, click and save.
While saving a photo to the much-used folder this past Monday, I clicked on the Save button and just happened to look up at the screen. There on that screen were four pictures of my mother and me! I had never seen them, had no idea where they came from, when they were taken or why they suddenly popped up on my screen.
It freaked me out, and luckily my colleague was there to see it all.
Then, right before my eyes, the folder "disappeared" and the photo I was trying to save was saved.
For some strange reason, I caught a glimpse of the name of the folder the pictures of my mother and me were in -- 101MSCDF. But I didn't have time to react; I didn't have the time at that moment to go back and look for those pictures. It weighed heavy on my mind all that night, so yesterday I spent some time trying to find the folder and those photos.
Major fail.
Disappointed, I decided to email our I.T. Department and ask them to look for the pictures when they had a moment to spare, explaining the photos were of my mother who had passed away seven months ago, and I gave them what I remembered to be the name of the folder the photos were in.
This morning, someone from our I.T. Department did it. They found the photos! And I was finally able to take a close look at them and recall when and where they were taken.

I can see the photo was taken at a restaurant in the town to our south. I remember the night, and I think we were celebrating either my birthday or Mother's, but I can't remember for sure. I can tell from the bracelet I'm wearing the photo was taken about two years ago, because it's a bracelet I made at one of my monthly Craft Nights with my Crafting Sistas'. And my mother, who absolutely hated alcohol and never understood how anyone could acquire a taste for it, is sharing my martini - sipping it through a straw. (I'm sure it's the only sip she took - for the sake of the photo, perhaps.)

This weird and freaky thing caused me to pause, because, according to the person from our I.T. Department, the photos were on a drive that is located on a server that I do not have access to. (More technical jargon.) I do know the pictures were taken by my husband using my old Sony camera, and you can tell that by the name of the folder the photos were in. I upload photos from my camera nearly every day of the week, because it's my job to take pictures at all the events I attend. It's not unusual to see my photos stored on my work computer.

But how did these pictures get into that server that I don't have access to? We may never know.

Amidst all of this, my husband decided to go on a motorcycle trip with some of his buddies, knowing I hate being alone in this house now that Mother is gone. But, I'm taking the appearance of the pictures of Mom and me as a sign.

As much as I'd like to sit with Theresa Caputo, the Long Island Medium, and have my mother speak to me and tell me she's okay, I don't think I need Theresa today to know that my mother was speaking through these pictures.
And, just like it's a person's choice to believe in the "powers" of a medium, I choose to believe the sudden appearance of these photos was my mother's way of reminding me of all the fun we had together, reminding me to embrace those good memories and relish in the thought that perhaps I'm leaving the same legacy for my son.

I love you, Mom!