Jeremiah and Sarah just ran to me exclaiming, “We saw a cardinal!”

Jeremiah said, “It landed right outside on OUR deck.”

Sarah said, in a very excited yet mythical voice, “When a red cardinal comes to our house that means Papo Bolivar is coming back to the baseball game!”

Jeremiah shook his head showing his disbelief. I motioned to him to keep his doubts to himself. Let the little girl dream.

P.S. Papo Bolivar played for the Springfield Cardinals during their first season. Sarah was two and in love with Papo. After 2005, Bolivar left Springfield with no forwarding address. He’s not playing pro ball anywhere. Even the sports writers wonder what happened to him. I doubt anyone misses him as much as Sarah does though. She talks about him almost daily.