Paper Angels

Back in the day, we were taught that you do not have to have everything be brand new. We were told that sometimes older things..those that were reused..were better. In other words..things got better with age. This lesson must have stuck with me. I can look around my house and see that it is filled with items that were "pre-used". Things that people have passed on to me for one reason or another. It seems as though I am the recipient of every piece of odd furniture that no one else wants..every odd dish that no longer matches someone's set..every Christmas ornament that no longer suits the need of the previous owner. As I was decorating the Christmas Tree in the living room this evening, I started noticing that most of the ornaments on the tree were either a past relative's, something the kids made in school or just some memento of days past. There were no "real" ornaments to put on the tree. But then I realized that this tree is a lot like my life..there are not real ornaments in my life either. It is simply filled with things from days past..memories.

I picked up a small paper angel and held her for a few minutes. As I stared at this folded strip of paper, I recalled just when she was made. When my oldest son, Mark was in elementary school, I was called upon to teach a "Christmas" art project. The children of his third grade class had been asked to make decorations for a Christmas Tree at the local grocery store. I was informed that this needed to be something that was "low-cost and easy to complete but also quite pretty." I opted for the folded paper angels. (Nowadays I probably would get in so much trouble with the "politically correct" folks for making angels in a public school but back in those days, people were just smarter.) Anyway, the children had so much fun making these angels that they asked to make some to take home with them. I consented and provided more paper. I had no idea that these little angels would be such a hit..after all, they were just brown paper..nothing more. Or was I wrong about that..was there "something" about these little folded bits of paper that actually had meaning? Every year after that for a number of years, I had to go to the school and teach the paper-folding art of angel-making. The children were creating angels but also memories. As I held this little angel, another memory came to my mind. Not too long ago, one of the students (now an adult) told me that his mother still had the small, crooked angel he had made in the third grade. I was impressed! Someone other than myself, held onto strange things! I have made many more of these little, paper angels over the years. Most of them have been given to folks that I do not even know. The angels are still creating smiles..even if it is only when they are pulled out of a box to hang on a Christmas Tree. The smashed, crumbled paper angel touches heartstrings. Sometimes things do just get better with age..or maybe my aging just brings back fond memories of the past and that makes it better...just saying...