Sawyer's hawk

We had a fantastic day today. Erik goes back to work tomorrow, so we tried to enjoy the day as much as we could for all of us.

The first thing we did was visit Sawyer. Sadie immediately ran over to his grave and giggled excitedly over the pinwheel Erik and I placed there a few days earlier. She knelt down and kissed the grass and told Sawyer that she loved him.

After that, she went skipping about the graves in a way that only a child could be so happy and carefree. While I was sitting on the ground next to Sawyer and watching Sadie, I heard this beautiful bird. I looked up and there he was - the same hawk that was there through Sawyer's entire service - the same hawk that glided in circles around the cemetery last week when Erik and I were there.

I yelled for Erik to come see and we just couldn't believe our eyes. He was perched in a tree right above Sawyer's grave making the most beautiful sound. We watched him for a few minutes, until he looked down at us and flew away. After walking through the wet grass with Sadie for a while longer, we left - without tears today and with smiles on our faces.