The Bird Watcher
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A cardinal sang as we stood by my nephew's grave – it’s beautiful voice held my attention throughout the burial service; it seemed to be saying. “I am free! I am free!”
It was a mystical experience - one I needed to share with someone. Later that afternoon I wrote several emails to friends describing the incident. A short while later, however, I began to question what I had felt, and wondered if people would think me quite mad? As I stood by my kitchen window brooding, a gorgeous cardinal alighted on the branch in the nearby tree. It sat waiting . . . waiting for me to notice him. And when I finally did, looked at me as if to say, “it’s me! . . . Don't you get it!? – I am free! . . .” He then flew away. Strange coincidence, I thought as I took my evening walk – why had I not remembered Jacques had been a bird watcher . . . we had often discussed our love for birds and of their freedom to fly . . . Why could this not be his way of telling me he is now free? The possibility brought tears to my eyes as I continued on my walk.
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