When I was a young child,
I often dreamed I was flying,
Sometimes running very hard through the street,
Trying to get liftoff.
Many years later,
My sister, Barbara, told me often dreamed
she was flying;
She was obsessed with flying
and so, in the 1960s, she
began taking flying lessons.
She qualified for a pilot’s license
and made her dream come true.
In October, 2004, my sister passed away–
And in April, 2005, I spied a cardinal
in our bird feeder. I had never before
seen a cardinal in California and that
sighting was brief and never repeated.
I realized, when I spied that beautiful red cardinal
that it had been six months to the day since
my sister had died–and I knew
she was sending me a message–
that her dream of flying had come true
