Doing the Right Thing

I have always been lacking in healthy positive emotions, but I strive to do what is right regardless of how it makes me feel. There are times when I take an action or make a decision that make me feel really good; but typical every day events such as Christmas related traditions do not generally excite me. I participate generally because it makes D feel good and I set a good example for J and B. Sunday, D, B and I put up the tree. J was MIA… Yesterday we told B And J that we would decorate the tree in the evening. Last night J, was nowhere to be found and B decided to go to a friend’s house. D and I were very upset at them for their casual disregard for a tradition we have always valued and observed. I wanted to give them another chance but D insisted we decorate the tree without them. I reluctantly complied and started to hang the decorations with even less enthusiasm than usual. Many of the trinkets carry with them a reminder of a past event or memory.

One particular adornment was an angel J made in pre-school created from a floury paste that became hard and somewhat brittle when dry. A day or so after J made the ornament, D called me in tears saying "I can't find J's angel". I thought to myself" J has an angel?" D brought me back to reality asking if I had seen it. I then realized that she was talking about the homemade angel J had created. “No” I replied. “I have not seen it”. Later that day D somehow realized that she had inadvertently placed the gold specked, white angel in the mailbox. The mailman, thinking it was a gift for him, took it. Later, D somehow realized her mistake and contacted the post office. When I arrived at home, she was standing in the door sobbing and clutching the remains of J's little angel. Its little arms were completely broken off and it was split in half right down the middle. I hugged her and confidently said “we can fix it” though I had my doubts. Using cardboard backing, glue and a lot of patience, I painstakingly reconstructed the little angel back to a semblance of its former self. Last night, we hung it on the tree for the 14th year; D and I, alone with only the brightly lit tree and the dog snoozing contentedly at our feet.