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| | My Miracle Picture --by Cathy Seehuetter I have been reading all the postings about feathers, pennies, etc.
and how others have wondered if there really is a heaven and will we
see our children again. I can't bear to think that Nina had 15 1/2
years and that was all...that her life didn't begin anew like I hope
it has. But, I too, have wondered and worried and fretted about the
same thing. I have thought to myself, "Have we all been duped into
believing that life is eternal? For centuries, has it all been a
cruel joke?" Every time that thought has come into my head, I have to
shake it off. I have to believe that I will see Nina again; it is the
only way that I can get through all of this. And I have my "miracle
picture" that I look at to remind me that our children do live on.
Maybe with all the talk about "Will we see our children again?", it
is a good time to retell my story for others who may have not heard
it before. For those who have, I hope you won't mind my repeating it.
I will try to make a long story as short as I can.
My daughter Nina died on my birthday on May 11, 1995. We were
vacationing in Florida when a drunk driver crossed over the median,
hitting the side of the car where my Nina was sitting, and she was
killed instantly. Earlier that day we had spent several hours at
Daytona Beach. Just before we left to return to our hotel, Nina
handed our camera to my son, her brother Dan, and asked him to "Take
a picture of Mommy and me." It was the last picture ever taken of my
precious daughter and I. After the accident, I was of course obsessed
with having that last picture. The days following Nina's death, I
repeated over and over, to anyone who would listen, to please let me
have the last picture of the two of us together. But the camera was
in the trunk at the time of the accident and the trunk was
demolished. All everyone could do was sadly shake their head knowing
that I would never have that last picture. I continually asked if my
camera had been found and I was repeatedly told that it would never
have survived the impact and that debris was scattered for a mile and
a half down the freeway; that it couldn't possibly have survived.
Three weeks following the accident the state trooper in charge of the
accident called our house with some information. My husband again
asked if anyone had found the c camera. The state trooper said that
nothing had survived it, but just to set our minds at ease he would
walk the stretch of freeway again to see. Obviously, he could have
told us that and not done so since we were in Minnesota and he was in
Florida and we wouldn't have known the difference. But, then the
miracle...
A week after the phone conversation with the state trooper I walked
out to the mailbox and found a small package addressed to me with the
state trooper's return address on it. I still can remember my heart
pounding as I prayed that this might be the picture. As I opened the
package, I found a note that the state trooper wrote: "I walked that
stretch of freeway and while doing so looked down into a drainage
ditch. There, covered by water, was your camera (you need to know
that this was one of a one-time use only, CARDBOARD DISPOSABLE
CAMERA - not waterproof). It had been under the water, and run o over
and flattened by a tractor! I took it to Walgreen's anyway and a few
turned out."
I thumbed through each picture (seven of the 24 were salvageable)
praying that picture of us had survived. When I came to the last
picture, there it was! The picture of Nina and I, arms around each
other, her head on my shoulder, standing in the water of the Atlantic
Ocean. Water marks obliterated part of the picture, yet they
separated as they came to the two of us together. The water marks
perfectly circled the two of us as if to spare that final image of
mother and daughter together, for the last time!
I wish you could see the picture for yourself; I don't know if my
description has done it justice. But there is NO WAY that cardboard
disposable camera should ever have survived the wreckage, being under
water for three weeks, flattened by the tire of a tractor. The only
explanation is that Nina heard this broken hearted mother's plea for
the last picture of the two of us, taken only a little over an hour
before she died in the crash, and with help from God was able to give
this picture to me. Not only to confirm that her life goes on, but to
let me pass on to all of you that all of our children do live on.
When my faith is shaky, I need to pull out that picture to refocus on
what a miracle that picture is. I really hope that this has helped
all of you.
Love and peace,
Cathy Seehuetter, Nina's mom
St. Paul, MN Cathy's Miracle Picture
(Picture Has been Removed for Privacy Issues. Please see Cathy S. to if
you wish to view the picture)
Cathy and her daughter Nina
May 11, 1995
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