Eight cardinals greeted us when we arrived at my nephew’s house at the beginning of March. Not one or two but eight. The tree was glimmering in a sea of red. Cardinal sightings give me joy and I look forward to hearing their song. Seeing a cardinal is said to be a visitor from a loved one who has passed away. When I only see one, I can’t always determine who is visiting. But eight, hell everyone who held a serious place in my heart is probably close. Now that is a comforting thought!
Not only did arrive to see eight beautiful birds, we were greeted by my nephew who had been fishing. Soon we were joined by his wife, their three amazing kids, his Mother-in-law, his dog and two baby lambs. It was quite the greeting. We spent some time just sitting around in lawn chairs talking. The lambs were only a couple of days old and wandered around freely with the kids, dogs, and chickens. I even got to bottle feed them!
My nephew and his wife live in Virginia and have a beautiful piece of land with a small lake and hiking trails. Spending time with them is always relaxing and a great opportunity to catch up. Other than snapping a few photos, I leave my cell phone behind and just enjoy the company of loved ones. My sister (Child #2) and her husband spent one day with us there as well for one of the kids birthdays.
At first, the sea of red cardinals made me feel like even more of my loved ones were present at this gathering. But then I started to wonder if they were sending me a message and if so, what was it? If the cardinal is a spiritual messenger, maybe they were bringing me a message from the other side? How cool would that be?
The cardinals I saw weren’t darting about all over the property, they were flitting about all within one tree. There were eight cardinals and I have eight siblings. I am sure there are many ways to interpret their message, but I see it as the need for my family to stay bonded together in love for Mother Fran as well as for each other. This interpretation gives me peace and that is reason enough to embrace it during these trying times.
Today, I am grateful for my eight siblings, for Mother Fran and for my extended family of nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins. I am grateful to all of the women out there who mothered me growing up and grateful to all of the people who let me mother them. I love watching my nieces and nephews with their own children, raising the next generation of this rather large, extended family.
I see and hear cardinals pretty much every day. I greet them with “hey Red” or “miss you” to signify one or all of the people I have lost. Seeing one always lightens my mood, makes me grateful and puts a smile on my face. That is a SUPER POWER in my book! I have written about this beautiful bird in the past and you can read more in these posts.
Cardinal Companions, Tune in to the Birds, and Not an Obligation but a Celebration!
I just reread those three posts and in one of the them I talk about eight deer watching me on my morning walk. Hmmm, guess my family is always close bye!
Happy Mother’s Day to Mother Fran and the rest of you Momma’s out there!
Lake Girl
