Legacy Writing 365:362

I uploaded this photo to my Flickr account in December of 2005, but I don’t remember if I ever put it on my blog (that being LiveJournal all those years ago). I believe the photo was taken when I was home from college for Christmas. The angel was on the back of the piano, I think, and because I loved her so much and she said “home” like nothing else, I put her on the floor next to me in front of the tree and asked for a photo.

Years later, Mother asked us kids to go through her Christmas decorations and take what we wanted. Of course, I wanted the angel, but she wasn’t there. I asked about her, and Mother said she wasn’t sure what had happened to her; she’d probably donated her with some other things to Goodwill. I was heartbroken.

Back in October, I posted a picture of my sister and me in a legacy writing post, and the angel was in that photo, too, but she was practically new then and in full feather. Debby was visiting along about that time, and on a whim, I opened Google and typed in “Christmas angel white feathers.” I saw an angel similar to ours in an Etsy shop. When I clicked on it, I realized there were actually two of the angels, and without hesitating, I bought them. I showed Debby and told her I’d keep one and would send her the other at Christmas.

But the more I thought about it, the more it nagged me that I wouldn’t have three angels, including one for my brother. So every couple of days I checked eBay and Etsy. I found others, but some didn’t have the right faces, or their wings had been modified, or their feathers were the wrong color. I missed out on a couple of them on eBay by forgetting to check my watch list. As it got closer to Christmas, I made a decision. Neither of the two angels had their song books, so I made songbooks for them. And I decided that I’d send one to David and one to Debby. I believed that in time, I’d find another one to give to myself.

I kept looking, though, because I thought it would be so cool to photograph three of them before I shipped them. And just as I was reaching the critical point for mailing packages, I did another Etsy search one morning and there she was. Bought, received, and put in a place of honor on the mantel overlooking Santa’s workshop.

And indeed, I was able to get a photo of this band of vintage Holt Howard angels.

Debby said her angel is molting, but she’s done a lot of traveling and needs a bit of glue to freshen up. Geri texted me a Christmas Day photo of the one who winged her way to David.

Wherever our family’s original angel ended up, I hope she still has the power to make someone feel at home at Christmas.