JOURNALING:
The Christmas Angel
This topper means "Christmas" to me as she decorated our annual tree in my youngest memories of that magical holiday season. She must be close to 70 years old now. But, it was the year she disappeared that stands out most vividly. I can't say exactly when it was, but I remember being devastated that she was GONE. We looked all over the house, to no avail. The very next year, however, she was back, looking down on the festivities from her tall perch atop the REAL (we always had a "real" tree in those years) tree.
THE REST OF THE STORY: It turned out that, the Christmas before the "tragedy," we'd spent at our Grandma's house in Southern Ohio. We'd taken our ornaments to decorate the family tree and she, as usual, was the topper. Apparently, when the tree was taken down and the ornaments packed up, some of them had been placed in a separate box and taken out to the old "washhouse." My father, after seeing how upset his little twin daughters were over the angel being missing from the Christmas tree, figured out what must have happened. That summer, he visited his Mom unbeknown to the rest of the family, found the treasure, and brought her home without telling anyone.
Having her back where she belonged, atop our tree, was the BEST Christmas present we'd ever received.
CREDITS: PHOTO: by me; KIT: "Snowy Days" by Reginafalango; FONTS: Christmas Card; Oldnewspapertype