saint louis cardinals

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Gathering up his son’s clothes, tossed about the bedroom floor, Daniel looked at his slumbering son as he lay with his ball glove secured in hand and his signed baseball had rolled off onto the blanket. Hair tousled in rings of curls, Jeffrey slumbered away with little boy dreams.

It was not long before this night, that Daniel and Jeffrey were spectators at their very first St. Louis Cardinals baseball game., a dream realized when Jeffrey’s grandparents surprised him with the tickets on his birthday, Daniel was even more excited than Jeffrey and immediately made plans for the big event.

Quietly, Daniel lay all of Jeffrey’s clothes out for the next day, before leaving his room and preparing for his own day to come, packing lunches, paying bills, making sure there was nothing left undone before embarking on their journey.

“Batter, batter,” chanted by the fans, they expected Albert Pujols to hit a homer each time he stood, ready to give it his all, having watched him play, religiously, Daniel enlisted his sidekick, Jeffrey, as part of the fan base of their home.

Falling into a deep sleep, partly from exhaustion and partly from having it all to do, Daniel drifted into a dream state, deeper than he had known in a long time, perhaps since she was by his side, before, well, before, she drifted off and didn’t wake up; Daniel dreamed that he was sitting at Busch Stadium, Tiffany by his side and Daniel on her lap, watching the pre-game activities, he looked in her eyes and grinned, bouncing Jeffrey on her knee, Tiffany smiled back, winking and then looked at their son as he babbled in baby talk, having a gleeful time.

Waking from his sleep, Daniel wiped the tears from his eyes, then got up to check on Jeffrey, who was still soundly sleeping; Placing his hand on his son’s warm head, he said a prayer and went back to bed, thinking about that wink and how someday he would find her again by his side.

…..

There you have it, the Six Sentence Story, thanks to the devotion of Denise as she provides the weekly prompt and makes sure we have a place to share our stories. Thanks so much to her. If you wish to participate, go to this LINK

Rules of the hop:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
Come back here on Thursday, link your post…
Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers 🙂

PROMPT WORD: CARDINAL

cardinal

Artwork by my niece given to her grandmother. See more works at ks_montgomeryartist on Instagram.

This seems to be the chosen season for many, not all, but many of those who have departed to be either having a birthday or death date. When I come upon certain dates, I look for signs that they may be saying “hello.”

One of the signs often seen are cardinals. Ironically, both of my nephews who passed away were big St. Louis Cardinals baseball fans. Keith, whose birthday is February 28, loved the Cardinals so much that his family wore Albert Pujols shirts for the funeral.

My other nephew has a birthday coming up in March. Michael was fortunate to get to have his picture taken at the Cardinals site in St. Louis. Every year, his mother would make the trek across Iowa to put a flag on his grave. If she could not make it for weather’s sake, there have always been close friends to help her decorate the grave. She is now resting with Michael. When going to the gravesite, it has not been unusual to see a cardinal paying a visit.

When I have gone for walks, I have seen cardinals and always say “hello.” You never know if it might be a sign from someone who has passed on.
I was reading up on this and found out that many times spirits come to visit in winged form. Remember the feather in Forrest Gump? You just never know, do you?

As I was searching online for significant information I came across this POST by Craig McManus I think he has valid points here.

Here are some facts about the cardinal bird. In looking at these, I can see how they would relate to those I have lost. How about you?

Cardinals mate for all their lives.

Cardinals do not migrate, which is why I saw the female hanging out at the pool in winter.

Both the male and female of the couple look out for the well-being of their young.

I wrote two poems about my nephews who both left too soon. They are in my book Heart Sounds, but I will share them here.

Keith

Little baby

Came so early

Such a tiny bit

Then he grew and grew and grew

Such a treasure