85-Year-Old Woman and Her Identical Marionette Twin Feed a Squirrel in New York City's Washington Square Park

This amazing photo taken by Nathalie Kalbach shows an 85-year old woman and her doppelgänger marionette feeding a squirrel in New York City’s Washington Square Park . This in itself is a pretty amazing thing, but the story behind it is even more wonderful. It all started with when Ricky Syers, a talented street performer, met Doris Diether, a housing rights activist who has since lost her voice. According to an article by Nina Golgowski for the New York Daily News, the two became instant friends.

It was while his marionettes were performing in the park on July 30 that Diether, who temporarily lost her voice a year ago due to an injury, first approached him. “One day she comes up to me and whispers, ‘I have something for you,'” he recalled. Opening a scrap book she revealed old newspaper clippings and articles she had written on marionettes back in 1974. Articles more recently added to her collection were ones she had seen on Syers’ work, which she cut out and saved for him. The gesture floored him. “This marionette thing has bonded us,” he said of their common interest, which inspired him to create the marionette resembling her “in honor of her.” …The charming little puppet featuring Diether’s short, white hair and rosy cheeks comes complete with a handbag, cane, and floral blouse and skirt.

Syers premiered Diether’s mini-me in a short video.