Ladybugs remind Schaefer of his mom. Whether he was going through something good or bad, or needed a hug, he happened to see a ladybug and it served as a timely reminder that her love is always with him.
“My mom always told me to never kill ladybugs, always let them go because it’s good luck,” Schaefer said. “When she passed away, I’d see them everywhere. They’re all around the house, they land on me all the time.”
Abear was visibly choked up from the Schaefers’ ladybug story. She remembers noticing a cardinal in the family’s back porch one day and sending a picture to her husband, who said that cardinals are known to symbolize a loved one who has passed, coming back to say hello. After losing her husband, she sees the little red bird all the time – on her window, the back porch, on the road – spotting them when she needs it most.
“The day we came home from his funeral, a cardinal was sitting on top of one of his books,” Abear said. “Now, five years later and they still come. I see them all the time, especially when I’m thinking of him and need to see it.”
For a lot of families, cardinals represent a deceased loved one. When 16-year-old Isabella Tolley talked to Schaefer, she realized how much they have in common in terms of how they cope. She lost her father eight years ago, but the grief is still heavy.
“He has some similar ways to think about loved ones who have passed away,” said Tolley. “Just like the ladybugs for him, we see cardinals all the time.”
When Schaefer put pen to paper and signed his entry-level contract with the Islanders on Monday, he was not only supported by his father and his brother, but the parents and children he interacted with – and made an impact on – in a major step in his journey as an Islander.
“You obviously have more of a voice when you’re an athlete and there’s a lot more pathways that open up for you to go back and help to the community,” Schaefer said. “But I’m just like every other kid and every other kid here has lost someone.”