A Holy Moment

The cardinal flew into my driver side window, startling me from my texting.

Don’t worry!! I had already parked my car. Don’t tell me I’m the only one who sits in their driveway, key out of the ignition, checking their text messages and social media, I know I’m not. 

With my head down fully absorbed in my phone the bang, frantic flutter and red blur were my dramatic portal back to reality. Only to quickly be transported to yet another world when I realized what had happened. 

My friend Laura with her fiery red hair and tenacious heart was tragically taken from us a few years ago in a car accident. My understanding was an object on a truck in front of her was not securely fastened. It fell off, hit the road and bounced back up and through her windshield as she drove to work. In a moment, she was no longer with us. Her body lingered for days afterward, but she was gone. Her husband, who she had married less than a year before the accident had a red cardinal tattooed on his arm in memory of her. I tattooed a sparrow on my forearm. We were not the only ones who honored her in a way that was permanent, bold, slightly rebellious, and would have made her smile. She loved her tattoos. She loved people boldly, unashamedly, and permanently. She would say to me all the time,” you should write!” She would tell me she saw books in my future, written by me. I loved her mind and imagination, her constant loyalty and encouragement. Anyone who has lost a loved one knows, those who have lived life large, leave a huge void. 

There I sat, in my driveway just having returned from my first writer’s conference. I was still sitting in the driver’s seat. Not yet back in my world, head down in the vortex of social media. 

Bang!

Flutter and then a flash of red.

Startled I looked up and there sitting on the fence in front of me was a beautiful red cardinal. Now straightening feathers and looking back at me satisfied that it survived the assignment it must have been given from yet another world.

A holy moment, a friend’s “I told you so” a portal to another time and place. She is still cheering me on.