The Accidental Angel, Part 2

I share a home with two other remarkable women. They are not just roommates, but dear friends and sisters to me. We call our home "the hacienda." JustJean is one of my roommates, and she is the creator of the tapestry that I named The Accidental Angel. She told me about the tapestry several months ago, and I had only seen it in a photograph. JustJean recently took a trip to her hometown and planned to get the tapestry out of storage, place it in her car's trunk and bring it home. She couldn't find it, but believed that when the time was right, the Angel would be found. Soon after that, JustJean's car was vandalized in the most horrible way one night while she was sleeping. If the tapestry would have been in the trunk, it would have been damaged. The car was repaired, the tapestry found, and brought to the hacienda.

When I saw it for the first time, I was moved to tears. It is beautiful beyond words, and unlike most art, I was able to touch it. I did so reverently. The Angel is, like all beautiful women, more beautiful in person than she was in the photograph. The Cathedral of Notre Dame has the crown of thorns, and our hacienda has the Accidental Angel.

The Angel isn't wispy or winsome or wimpy. She is colorful and powerful and symbolizes all that is best about being a woman. She is at once soft and strong. She reminds me that there is great power even in great pain. And that's no accident.

Susan

The Accidental Angel, Part 1

It was during the lowest low of my friend's life that she created a tapestry. She is a very creative person and had always loved to sew. Using a variety of fabrics, texture, beads and buttons, she spent two months on this project. It was something she had to do. At times it seemed to take on a life of its own. She fashioned a meandering river, a playful dolphin, a magnificent ocean.

When she was finished, she hung the tapestry on a wall in her home. Shortly afterwards, she had a visitor. After looking at the tapestry for a moment, the guest asked, "Did you intend to make an angel?" My friend took a second look and saw something she had not seen before. There was a clear image of an angel across the entire tapestry.

No. She had not intended to make an angel. Yet that is exactly what she had done. I wonder, what accidental angel will emerge from our greatest pain?

Susan