Keep On Smiling

IN 1971, AFTER YEARS OF DRIED-UP fire-trap Christmas pines, my dad, Larry, decided that we needed to switch to an artificial tree. We went to the Turn Style department store in Moline and bought a 6-foot artificial tree and miniature lights.

My mother, Nancy, turned the job of assembling the tree, installing the lights and decorating the tree into a family event, complete with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on TV. We were almost finished when we made a disappointing discovery: Our traditional Christmas star didn’t fit the new lights.

Mamma, always resourceful, constructed an angel out of a cardboard thread cone, a Styrofoam ball, multicolored feathers, and felt, adding a pipe-cleaner halo. The kicker was the prominent smiley face Mamma drew on the angel—keep in mind, this was the early ’70s and smiley-face symbols and stickers were everywhere.

Each year, Smiley Angel perched on top of our Christmas tree. That is, until 1983, when I came home from college and saw that she had been replaced.

Mamma said the handmade angel reminded her of how poor we were back then. Poor? I don’t remember being poor. Strapped for cash, maybe, but not destitute. I found Smiley Angel in the attic and restored her to her place of honor. And I explained to Mamma that little things such as homemade angels and birthday cakes and Saturday night popcorn parties made us feel rich indeed growing up.

My wife, Tootsie, and I have displayed Smiley Angel on our tree since 1989. Mamma died three years ago, and Daddy died in February, so our homemade topper will be a source of dear memories this holiday—her 50th birthday.