When I was about eight or nine I was bitten by a spider. The only part I remember was waking up in a hospital bed with wires attached to me, my mom sitting next to me in a chair.

I look over and her eyes catches mine. “What happened?” I ask, my voice cracks as my throat is dry.

“The doctor says you were bit by a spider,” she replies with a tired look.

I don’t remember anything else of that day, nor what type of spider it was, but I do know that it had given me a fear of them. As the years had progressed I have curiously read about spiders and have come to respect them. Well, mostly. A spider indoors becomes a dead one, but a spider outside is well left alone.

A few weeks ago I’ve noticed a web building spider, the size of a nickel, right outside the door as I gone to get the morning paper. I curiously stopped to look at her. The size of her web was ghastly in size, reaching from the porch, to our wheelchair ramp; so about three and a half feet in diameter. It glistened in the sunlight as the breeze moved it ever so gently. She was sitting in the center of the web, her legs pulled tightly into her, as if she’s sleeping. She isn’t a widow or a spider I could identify right away. I was mesmerized though.

I would greet her every morning as I passed by her, as if we were old friends, even though it’s a one way conversation. When I returned from class she would be gone, along with her beautiful web. The other day I happened to catch her as she was moving to her hiding spot. She wasn’t the size of a nickel as I thought, but bigger than the size of a quarter.

Yesterday, I went outside to get the morning paper and I noticed Miss Spider wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I looked all around the porch area for her, curious where she might have gone. This morning, again, she wasn’t there. I asked my grandmother if she had seen the big spider outside or if she killed it. She laughed at me and said no. She knows I have a fear of spiders, hence the reason why she laughed at me.

The only reason why I don’t kill spiders while they’re outside is that they have a part in the cycle of life. They kill bugs, especially mosquitos. Mosquitos carry diseases. And Miss Spider had set her web in a perfect spot, right near our door to our house. So I welcome her to catch every little bug that comes this way. Hopefully she’s still around.