Nancy LaDuke. She said it was silly the time (we were THS sophomores) I told her I thought I'd seen her in San Clemente when our family went through there on the way back from our annual trip to Tijuana, where we always bought the same things: pistachios for Dad, Tabu™ for Mom, a wallet (or a ring, or firecrackers, or Tijuana Bibles, depending on when you looked) for me.

Until just now (middle-late or late-middle 2000) I hadn't associated that sighting with the fantasy that the familiar-looking woman who parked next to us outside the laundromat in Missoula, the lady with the Shih Tzus in the station wagon, the woman who gave me a pleasant, dismissive smile, was Nancy. Turns out Nancy actually did live in Missoula. Her name then was Nancy Midget.

Here are some answers to your questions: Yes, that is the same person depicted above. No, it's not Nancy Laduke. No, it wasn't Nancy at the laundromat in Missoula. Yes, the note this person sent spelled LaDuke "Laduke." She spelled Midget "Midgett," too. She said it was OK to put her picture on this page, and that I could write anything I wanted to. I suggested this:

Amazingly enough, Nancy her own self found this page. She sent a picture and said, "You guys are way out of luck compared to me! I live in the Purtiest Landscape On Earth©, right up between the Sky That Opens Your Senses and The Earth That Grounds Your Heart, next to the Waters That Nourish Your Spirit™. I have The Greatest Kids On Earth, and A Smile That Lasts Forever®. Eat your hearts out, but think kindly of me. By the way, if you see this Nancy LaDuke person, tell her... Never mind... Wait. Tell her I think she was adorable. (signed) Notnancy Laura Notladuke Rose."

All kidding aside, her name is now Laura Rose, that story pending; she is associated with Deep Bay Center, a Northwestern Montana non-profit conference, retreat and teaching facility at the edge of Flathead Lake; she claims to actually have the best kids and live in the best place; she is a Certified Personologist. You'll have to check with her on that last thing. Or Goooogle it.

Bulletins
08-01-02:  I found Laura has her own domain and Web site.
I don't know why it makes me want to cry. Perhaps because it's gone blank?
10-15-03:  Laura Notnancy Rose Notladuke has left Deep Bay
According to the Deep Bay Journal, she will be an ambassador for Deep Bay (which journal seems to have disappeared, eh?)
While pursuing her other interests as noted on her Web site
And peripateticizing among Montana, Colorado, Canada, and California

Not to mention New Mexico, where she lives in a small town, as of January, 2012, anyway. If you'd like to contact her, email me and I'll forward. Better yet: contact her through her Facebook Page

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