JOY

Decorating the Christmas tree 

is a bitter-sweet experience 

for me. Three of my daughters,

 now married with children of their own, 

once relished the joy of the holiday preparations. They loved helping bake cookies and they loved choosing and cutting a tree with their daddy and putting on lights and the ornaments. 

Several different years when they were little we worked together to make sets of ornaments. 

One year we painted stained glass pieces. 

One year we cut  the nativity characters 

and animals along with seasonal words, 

like: rejoice, peace, gift, and Emmanuel 

from Christmas cards 

and we decoupaged them 

unto thin pieces of wood we had painted.

This little lamb has always been 

my favorite of them all.

 I felt sad about Christmas because 

I don't have any little starry-eyed children at home and yet happy for the sweetness of the memories.

Taking the ornaments from the boxes, 

I held again the sweet lamb 

and I remembered 

JOY.