Birthday

Well, here I am, older than I ever thought I'd be and still kicking. Thanks to everyone who sent birthday greetings by snail-mail, e-mail and telephone. Besides family and friends here in the States, I even got a greeting from Italy. All of them were much appreciated and brightened my day.

The picture is the gift Tom gave me, a Heartwood Creek angel that is 28 inches high and seems to weigh a ton. It is resin, I am sure, but it looks like carved wood, decorated in a folk art style. I have given Mama a couple of Santas from this same collection, though not as tall as this figure. I had been admiring it in the shop where I got the Santas for some time, but it was a bit beyond my means. Tom noticed that I liked it and picked it up on sale to surprise me.

At the moment she is watching over a corner of the living room. We will see if she stays there. Because she is on the same shelf as the entertainment center, Tom is already calling her Our Lady of the Television.

St. Clare (1200's), for what it's worth, is the Patron Saint of Television. One story I heard is that this is because she was supposed to have had a vision of St. Francis from afar. The other version is that when she was unable to attend Mass because of ill health towards the end of her life, the service would appear on the wall in her room and she could watch it there. Take your pick.

The name of this angel piece is Singing Makes the Heart Glad. If you look carefully, you can see she is holding a book in her hands. I guess it is supposed to be a song book, but the text written on the pages is "Bless This Home and All Who Enter." Anyway, since she is close to the CD player, maybe she could be the Angel of Music.

Except that's the name of a song from Phantom of the Opera ...