A fond farewell

This afternoon, I went out to what I dubbed the treetop guest apartment to start packing up the decor atop the kitchen cabinets now that we're footing the bill for our niece to move into an apartment in anticipation of this house being sold. She has lived out there for the past eighteen months since she and her mother have a contentious relationship. It's a long story, as you can imagine, and one that always grieved my mother. But that's a tale for another day. I'll miss having my little in-house dogsitter and our weekly lunches, keeping tabs on what she's up to with classes and the college coed life.

I had set up the treetop decor when mother initially moved onto our property. She lived there for about a year until she opted for the cabana because it was larger, closer and by then we had installed an inner fence so her pugs could roam at will instead of mother having to take them out on leashes.

Mother enjoyed living back there because she liked the views of the trees out her windows since it was located above the workshop. She was always spying lots of cardinals and told me it was her mother, my granny, come to say hello. I have no idea where that bit of folklore originated, but it's comforting to think that cardinals are departed loved ones visiting us from heaven. 

Almost as soon as I got to the top of the stairs out there, a beautiful cardinal landed on the windowsill and tapped the glass to alert me to its presence. But it didn't stop there. Over the course of an hour it continued to fly off for a few minutes and then return to peer in the window at me repeatedly as if to say here I am, I see you.

It was a sweet reminder of mother and the years we enjoyed having her right here in our backyard. This house holds so many memories of her that I treasure. Amidst the joy of that is the pain of looking back at the guest apartment and cabana every time I walk from the master bedroom through the family room to the kitchen, confronted with a wall of windows to the backyard broadcasting the fact that mother isn't there anymore. That she gained her wings like that beautiful cardinal when God set her free from the sin and pain of this world. Praise Jesus that He defeated death for all of us when He was nailed to the cross to assure our salvation.

 

Speaking of messages, I received one yesterday from the monument company that mother and granny's joint marker is complete and ready to be set as soon as I pay the balance. After contemplating using a cardinal, we opted to go with a dove because it also had special meaning for both of them. Once we get moved and settled a bit, I hope to get back to my old hometown to see this pretty memorial honoring the two wonderful women who raised me.