It was the end of a chapter….one that Victoria was unprepared to have end so abruptly.
She looked around the empty house one last time as unwanted tears started falling down her cheeks.
She wasn’t ready to say goodbye…
Five years ago, she unexpectedly had to say goodbye her dad, her hero. While she given the opportunity to actually say the words and see him one last time, it was still incredibly heartbreaking. Something she was totally unprepared for.
This time was just as unexpected – only there were no hugs or goodbyes…only a phone call from one of her mom’s closest friends who started the conversation crying, “I’m so sorry…she’s gone….”
The day before the “birthday club” – three neighbor ladies and her mom – had planned to go out to celebrate her mom’s birthday. These four had been neighbors for over 55 years…
But her mom said she didn’t feel good. No problem. They would go another day.
The next day her mom didn’t answer her phone or respond to texts from her friends…
These friends had a gut feeling something wasn’t right…it wasn’t…
When they went to check on her, they found her…already gone…
The hardest phone calls Victoria had to make: to her brothers and to her kids who absolutely adored their grandma. She can’t be gone – they still needed her! They had plans to see her next week….
Victoria stood in the kitchen, remembering the many delicious meals her mom made for them. Chocolate chip cookies were her favorite and her mom always made sure there were plenty of those cookies in the freezer.
She could hear her mom saying, “What’s happening?” when you called her on the phone.
She could hear her say, “Oh sugar, sugar, sugar!” when she wanted to swear, but never did!
She could feel the hugs her mom would give her every time she came home.
But now she wasn’t there and the room was so empty….
Gone was all of the cardinal décor that her mom had displayed throughout the house – pictures, candles, figurines, and a cardinal puzzle which had been saved and framed. She even had “real” cardinals visit her bird feeder. Victoria knew of no one else who had cardinals come to their bird feeder.
As Victoria turned to leave, her breath caught as she looked outside the family room window. Pecking at the seeds in the bird feeder was the daddy cardinal – bright red and brilliant! She stood still, watching as he flew away a few seconds later.
Then she saw the mama cardinal, with muted tones of brown but still striking, fly in carefully and eat quickly. After a few seconds, she too flew away.
Victoria stood there with tears in her eyes and a grateful heart….
The cardinals were her sign that her mom was with Jesus and her dad….it would be okay….
Victoria closed the door behind her. The chapter with her mom may be over (for now), but it wasn’t without hope and it wasn’t without assurance that her mom lived on in the hearts and memories of her family and friends…and every time she saw a cardinal that would be her confirmation……….