Christmas Angels

Christmas was her favorite holiday. She started every year watching Miracle on 34th Street – the original – shortly after Santa made his appearance at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. She watched the Dog Show first, of course, because dogs are a kind of angel, and she had an affinity for angels.

She had plenty of angels, too, statues and images scattered throughout the house, and two life-size and brilliantly lit up angels for the yard. She even once chose to live in a house because it was on Angel’s Hollow.
She loved holiday music. Once upon a time, she joined a choir, and I’m not convinced it wasn’t just so she could sing “Mary Did You Know?” every season.

Despite her love of Christmas, she had no such affection for winter. Snow, blizzards, cold – none of that appealed to her. So when she lived in Australia, where Christmas arrived in summer, she thought that was perfect. Prawns and champagne on the beach beat eggnog every time.

She loved the movies so much, her enthusiasm and excitement when joining an animation team to create the Christmas film Klaus was off the charts.
She never got a chance to see the final product, but I can assure you it’s beautiful., She would be proud of the film and the crew she worked with to create it.

As an artist, every year she made an original and unique Christmas card, sometimes working on these as early as July. When she learned she was sick enough that she wouldn’t see another Christmas, she wanted to make one final card. But the disease was fast. She never had the time. I’ve gone through her sketchpad to find something that might be appropriate so I could give you this one last gift on her behalf.

I’m not going to pretend I know precisely what happens after we’re gone from this earth. But I suspect her love for the holiday remains strong, and there’s a new Christmas Angel this year.