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Description
The Angel Ornament

It was Christmas time again and my family was acting as most and trying not to gripe and step on each other's toes, not that it was working, but the thought that we were at least trying made all of this sudden togetherness bearable. My mother and I were placing ornaments on the tree on Christmas Eve while my father was reading. I myself was barely paying attention to the tree, having half of my mind on the TV screen as it was playing my favorite movie (on DVD of course) "The Crow" with Brandon Lee.

So much had happened to me this year. I had surgery again over the summer and while I was up to popping nearly six pills a day probably for the rest of my life, the doctors (all eight hospital specialization doctors) said my illnesses were hopefully - hopefully! - coming to an end. My grades were the best they had been since freshman year: A, A, A, C (so I'm not good in math, kill me). And I had loved Joseph. Even though the e-mail telling me of his death had been a brick shattering my glass heart I still loved him. Would always love him.

Back to the tree. The movie was just getting good when I reached the bottom of the box. There, sitting straight up as if on display in a store window was a cute little angel in a pink robe sitting on a cloud while holding up the most adorable little blue bird. Brown curly hair capped her head as she smiled and if the eyes had been open they would have been green, like my own. Cute little pearl-like wings sprouting from the back reminded me of the name Joseph used to use when referring to me: Angel.

I had never seen this ornament before.

"Mom," I said, holding up the ornament to her. "Have you ever seen this one before?" I trusted her judgment; this woman could remember how many red crayons I had when I was five.

She looked at it and shook her head. "No," she said, "but it's cute. Put it on the tree."

So I shrugged and put it on the tree, first digging through the box for an ornament hook. Placing it on the tree about eye level, it spun a little and I spotted a smudge of black on the back of the little cloud. Turning the ornaments I saw my name, not a smudge, clearly written in permanent black ink. I frowned and asked again, saying "Mom, are you sure you've never seen this ornament before? It has my name on it."

She just shook her head: she was positive.

I turned away from the angel ornament to close the box, now empty. I suddenly looked up at the TV; it was on one of my favorite scenes: where Eric has just saved Sarah from the car racing down the wet street and he says the famous line. "It can't rain all the time." I look back at the angel ornament on the tree and think of Joseph. That had been our favorite line from "The Crow."

I blinked and looked from the TV to the ornament, sitting placidly on the tree, left to wonder.

Description
The Angel Ornament

It was Christmas time again and my family was acting as most and trying not to gripe and step on each other's toes, not that it was working, but the thought that we were at least trying made all of this sudden togetherness bearable. My mother and I were placing ornaments on the tree on Christmas Eve while my father was reading. I myself was barely paying attention to the tree, having half of my mind on the TV screen as it was playing my favorite movie (on DVD of course) "The Crow" with Brandon Lee.

So much had happened to me this year. I had surgery again over the summer and while I was up to popping nearly six pills a day probably for the rest of my life, the doctors (all eight hospital specialization doctors) said my illnesses were hopefully - hopefully! - coming to an end. My grades were the best they had been since freshman year: A, A, A, C (so I'm not good in math, kill me). And I had loved Joseph. Even though the e-mail telling me of his death had been a brick shattering my glass heart I still loved him. Would always love him.

Back to the tree. The movie was just getting good when I reached the bottom of the box. There, sitting straight up as if on display in a store window was a cute little angel in a pink robe sitting on a cloud while holding up the most adorable little blue bird. Brown curly hair capped her head as she smiled and if the eyes had been open they would have been green, like my own. Cute little pearl-like wings sprouting from the back reminded me of the name Joseph used to use when referring to me: Angel.

I had never seen this ornament before.

"Mom," I said, holding up the ornament to her. "Have you ever seen this one before?" I trusted her judgment; this woman could remember how many red crayons I had when I was five.

She looked at it and shook her head. "No," she said, "but it's cute. Put it on the tree."

So I shrugged and put it on the tree, first digging through the box for an ornament hook. Placing it on the tree about eye level, it spun a little and I spotted a smudge of black on the back of the little cloud. Turning the ornaments I saw my name, not a smudge, clearly written in permanent black ink. I frowned and asked again, saying "Mom, are you sure you've never seen this ornament before? It has my name on it."

She just shook her head: she was positive.

I turned away from the angel ornament to close the box, now empty. I suddenly looked up at the TV; it was on one of my favorite scenes: where Eric has just saved Sarah from the car racing down the wet street and he says the famous line. "It can't rain all the time." I look back at the angel ornament on the tree and think of Joseph. That had been our favorite line from "The Crow."

I blinked and looked from the TV to the ornament, sitting placidly on the tree, left to wonder.