The Red Cardinal Was With Me & I'm Praying For My Neighbor

In the house across the street to the right live an older couple. Chitunga and I once tried to help the guy with his driveway, but he didn't want any part of us assisting. Occasionally, I see him walk his wife to the car for doctor appointments. I've guessed she's had a stroke or something, because she comes out rarely and when she does, she moves very slow. There is little to no movement at their house, and I always worry about them, wondering if their world is okay.

Yesterday, I was drinking morning coffee when firetrucks and ambulances arrived out front. They tried to get into their house, but the black car wasn't home and I wondered what was going on. A crew of around 7 people walked around the house and they were gone for a while. Eventually the front door opened and they wheeled the woman out in a stretcher - she didn't look good and wasn't moving. I wondered where her husband was, and 20 minutes after they left I heard him speeding down the road and screeching into his driveway. He went in quick and then took off rapidly. When I got home at night, his car was still gone. My heart dropped and I am hoping for the best for them.

At lunch, I went for a four mile run in Stratford and as I ran, a red cardinal flew alongside me, hopping from tree to tree singing, and watching my slow, 45-year old, painful pace. I've begun to see red cardinals as Lois, as she returns from time to time to let me know she's thinking about us all. When I got home, I immediately contacted Pam and my mom to check on them and to be sure everything was okay. I worried that the bird might of been telling me something I needed to know. It was an eclipse day, and everything about the day was a little awry.

Everything was okay with Pam and my mom.

I'm now thinking that the cardinal was following me letting me know it was with me for my worry for my neighbor. I continue to hope everything is okay and will extend my generosity again when I see them at home. I've worried about them both for sometime, and when she was pulled out on a stretcher by herself I immediately began sending prayer out to the Great Whatever.

Such events are never fun and they trigger so many thoughts in my head. They are on my mind.