Once upon a time–namely in December 2008 and November 2006–I talked about the tradition of the Christmas angels at The Compound. This year, the angels were put up by Tim, as usual, like so:
There were angels in the dining room:
Angels in the living room:
More angels in the living room:
Angels in Tim’s arms:
Wait; those are ears, not wings. Sorry, Puddles.
So many angels that it makes you ponder: How many angels can dance over the windows in The Compound? The answer is: MORE. Because there’s another angel named Marika who liked my story of the angels so much that she ordered some of the hard-to-find angel books. Then, in a gesture of the true spirit of Christmas, she sent the angels out far and wide to be adorned by friends…FOR ME!
Yesterday, these angels winged their way to Houston:
And from the back:
I couldn’t be happier that beautiful new angels from Lisa, David, Jeffrey P, Jeffrey R, Michael, Steve, Rob, Gary, and Chris will join all the angels from years past and become a part of all my Christmases future. You are all thoughtful and generous and so kind to share your energy and your COLORING SKILLS (amazing!) during this busy season. I’m so happy to know you all and can’t thank you enough.
One time when Greg and I were talking, I said that it’s a rare person who gives without expecting anything in return. And Greg said, “Marika does.” It’s true. Marika was so focused on making sure I got everyone’s angels before Christmas–both as a surprise for me and so that all their makers wouldn’t be disappointed–that she forgot to put the angel she colored in the package! It’s okay, Marika, the angel tin is never packed away with the rest of the holiday stuff. It stays available all year, so any new angel will always find a home there, whenever she arrives.
Also thanks to Marika, I now have several of the out-of-print books that feature these angels. So if anyone else ever wants to color one to join The Compound Band of Angels, e-mail me your address. Your work of art, like all of these, will always be as cherished as your friendship.
In the meantime, these nine angels stand ready to find something in the happy books for you, if you just provide a page number between 1 and 611, and another number between 1 and 25.
Happy Christmas!