When following a murder case, usually there is something that represents the victim. Something that was personally significant. For Laci Peterson, it was sunflowers, and for Michelle Young, it is the ladybug. We heard, early on, that Michelle loved ladybugs, and that prompted several different things, such as the Christmas ornaments that were made and distributed at a Christmas Bazaar in Raleigh, and the Ladybug Liftoff, a little festival to commemorate her life.
Sometime last year, Vanessa gave me this bracelet, which I have worn ever since, no matter what. Some of the enamel has worn off. I have become so used to the tiny sound of its castanets that it is like a dear companion, and I think of Michelle much more often than I would without it.
Next week, I shall have to take it off for a month. I cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, see Miss Maple (my character in "Murdered to Death") wearing such a thing. For a start, the play is set in 1936, and I don't believe charm bracelets were extant at that time. As well, Miss Maple is more a pearls-and-sensible-shoes sort of person, and I just don't see her wearing insects of any sort.
So, I shall take off my bracelet and put it back on when the show closes. By our closing date, it will be only a couple of weeks short of three years since Michelle's murder. Maybe, by then, her "slayer" husband will have been arrested and justice will be on its way.
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