Never Enough Angels

Christmas came and went. Somehow I’d managed to get my angel tree up, but by the time my husband, Woody, finished chemotherapy treatments in late February, I still hadn’t gotten a chance to take the tree down again. Woody suggested we simply leave it up.

“Year-round?” I asked.

“How else can you gain back a whole month of your life?” Woody said. “You spend two weeks each year putting the
angels up, and two more weeks taking them back down!”

I laughed then, but the more I looked at all those angels, especially the new ones friends and family had sent to watch over us while my husband was ill, the more I realized what a comfort they were.

Ten years later my tree has over 1,030 angel ornaments from 41 countries. I have angels made of metal, wood, feathers, shells, cornhusk and even nuts! Some angels are dressed as beekeepers, others are busy cooking with a skillet or talking on the phone. Still others frame pictures of my grandbabies, and one very special angel in a cadet’s uniform honors my son, Roger, who died while he was a student at West Point.

I’ve only taken the angel tree down once since my husband’s illness: when it became so heavy with ornaments that a few branches broke off. Naturally I just went out and bought a bigger tree! After all, I can never have too many angels blessing our home, and not just at the holidays, but every day.