Angels of Ditson Street

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The last days of packing up the garden items were taken care of by The Husband long after we both were tired and completely burned out on packing and moving. He worked hard and alone on a couple of trips, leaving me in Bear Valley Springs since I was no help lifting the heavy items anyway. Because I wasn’t there to see things packed, it didn’t come as a total shock to me when I recently began looking for some things that I couldn’t find. Specifically, I was looking for the angel who guarded the furthest corner of the back yard—the area I called the secret garden largely due to its being shrouded in the limbs of the apricot tree and dozens of potted plants along with the old wooden garden furniture. The angel is tall and graceful with a lovely smile, and I always considered her the mother of all the wounded angels that I had collected over the years. Ultimately, we gave up the search and realized that the angel, along with a few other items, had been overlooked that last trip that The Husband made to clear out everything in the yard.

Hope was restored when I inadvertently sent an order to the old Ditson address. In a bleary-eyed moment, I obviously failed to notice that the ship-to address wasn’t current. Because the husband had an impending business trip to make to Los Angeles, it seemed that order would be restored. The angel would come to live with us and her little band of children; the package would finally arrive; all would be fine.

When The Husband arrived to pick up the package, as pre-arranged with the new owners of the house on Ditson, he asked about the angel and sure enough there she was proudly ensconced on the deck—perhaps lonely without her family, but still smiling and looking lovely, I am told. The gentleman assured The Husband that certainly it would be fine for him to take the angel, but just then the man’s wife came outside and was brought up to date on the conversation. The Husband saw her face fall when she heard the news and when pressed she asked if she could buy the angel, since she had come to think of her as blessing their new home. Well, The Husband didn’t have the heart to remove a blessing from the home of the new owners. They are lovely people and seem to be extremely happy and excited about their home. This was only their fourth Chrismas in the USA, and they are not only crazy about this country, but thrilled to have their very own home in such a beautiful place.

Of course, I will miss my angel, but she is still very much at home, and I will remember her fondly as she continues to oversee the little house that was our home for so many years. The story is a little late in the telling, yet it still seems a fitting one for this time of year. May our angel smile over the house and grounds, along with the new family, and may they all be safe and happy for many years to come.