Page 42 (1/2)

“Yes” He sighed again “But I have a box of ornae, I think If I can find them, can we use them instead of the tinsel?”

“Okay You look for the ornaments, and I’ll put up the wreath”

Paul went into the garage and dug through boxes of storage He had essentially stopped celebrating Christ a deal of the holidays at his house as a kid, and the et enough of Christ around Halloween While they were together, he had found her enthusiasm for the holiday infectious, but when he was on his own, the season became lonesome and melancholy

Christmas was a work day for hiave the services so other families could celebrate He took what pleasure he could from their faces Then he went home and watched TV It seemed foolish to put up decorations for himself He opened the presents that came in the mail when they arrived, and there was no need for holiday music for that

Now that he would have soain, Christmas suddenly did seem fun Paul found the box of ornaments buried under so “White Christs aside and set the ornament box on the coffee table When he opened it, he was surprised at the strong eave him He had not seen the ornaments since he and Sara had packed theether The box had become a time capsule

Each ornaether Paul could see Sara, her thin hair covered by a head scarf, taking the fragile orna theotten entirely because it had hung on the tree only once It was a crystal angel blowing a golden horn

“She’ll watch over you,” Sara said when he opened it They both understood the unspoken second half of the sentence: “After I’one”

She put it on the tree that day, up at the top near the star A few days later, Paul packed the decorations away, along with the angel ornament, and purposely put it out of his mind It had remained in the box unseen and unremembered until now Paul brushed a tear away from the corner of his eye

“What is it?” Ian asked

“I’ave this to ot about it”

“I’m sorry,” Ian said He put his arms around Paul and let him sink into his shoulder They held onto each other silently for a full o

Ian took the angel froht “It’s really beautiful”

“It’s supposed to be Sara’s angel watching over me We knew that Christmas that…” He brushed away another tear “I didn’t mean to spoil the mood”

“It’s okay,” Ian said He handed the ornament back to Paul “You should put it on the tree”

“I don’t know,” Paul said He wrapped the angel back up in her paper towel “Why don’t we put up the other ones, and I’ll think about this one”