Some old snail mail caught up to me when I visited the building that once housed Mermaid Gallery the other day. It was a thank you letter and it made me recall a day last summer when Mermaid Gallery was still up and running. A very bedraggled trio came in talk to me. They told me the story of their sister, Amanda.( the two young men were her brothers. The young woman, a friend) She was in Somalia working as a freelance photographer. Her and another journalist were kidnapped by Somalian terrorists. She was being tortured, beaten, and held in absolutely terrible conditions. A ransom was being sought from the family. They were going to hold a silent auction in Calgary. Jane Arden was going to play. Would I be able to donate something? I walked over to the main wall of the gallery and removed a large celebration painting, wrapped it in bubblewrap and brown paper and gave it to them. They cried a lot. I googled her name when I got home and sure enough it was a true story. I remember celebrating when I heard she was released after a ransom was paid. The handwritten thank you I received the other day is really nice. I'm going to save it in my file of memorabilia. The best possible end to a memory of a sad, rainy day last summer.
