Hey guys, I wanted to share this poem my aunt wrote for me. She sent it with a framed artwork of a fawn, and she wrote it after I wrote The Grey Rhino and The Golden Hare. The deer represents me, the cardinal represents my aunt, the owl is my mom, and the hawks represent my cousin and uncle who are also grieving over Mason's loss.

You might remember my aunt from our Bellingrath Gardens photos



"The Cardinal" by Aunt Les

A cardinal flew blindly through the forest screeching in agony over a recent tragedy. The cardinal knew not where it was going - it was in a flight of panic. Out of the foliage a beautiful stag stepped and called to the frantic bird. "I'm here" he said, "Come sit on my antlers and I will comfort you."
As the cardinal sat, awed by the points on the stag's rack, the deer stepped back into the greenery as to shield the bird from prey.
"The Owl has told me of your plight and I am here to tell you a story - a legend about a golden hare and a great grey rhino." As the deer shared the story the cardinal cried as she had never cried before. "I'm here" he said, "and you can stay in this forest with me forever if you want to, but you have others who need you too. A gentle young hawk is searching for you, and so is his father." The cardinal, not quite so panicked now, knew that one day her heart would heal. However, she learned that day that her protectors would always be near.