Of Angels and Roses

By Liz Madison Shafer

One of my claims to fame is my treasury of friends. Some of which, at times, contribute greatly to my adventuresome spirit. At least that’s my excuse when I find myself in an unusual situation, which seems to be fairly often.

My friend Joe falls right in to that category. Recently he invited my husband and I to help him put together a living nativity scene for the Christmas on the Square in Danville. Claiming to be of sound mind, I should have said no……but then again, my husband contends that my soundness of mind is sometimes in question. So once again my ability to say no went out the window and I found myself gushing like an idiot…..”What a great idea! Can I be the angel?”

By the time I left Joe’s office I had offered to make my angel costume, bring two donkeys, two sheep, a pony, two bales of straw and offered my husband as a shepherd. Now how stupid was that?

Last time I offered to provide animals for a church petting zoo, we spent the afternoon chasing goats that kept jumping out of the fence Joe built. I discovered it is really difficult to appear dignified when chasing a goat across a parking lot in high heels. So….. my problem now was how to explain this new moment of insanity to my husband.

I finally decided to take an indirect approach. I waited till Rick was deeply engrossed in watching Survivor on TV, then I casually mentioned that Joe had a great idea for a living nativity scene and if we were lucky we might be able to help and that would be good publicity for Hope’s Way. Now Rick loves Survivor (don’t ask me why) so he is likely to agree to anything to get me to stop interrupting his show. So before he could think about it…. he nodded okay and went back to watching that crazy show……..can you imagine real people doing such dumb things……?

As the date for the event got closer I started to plan my approach to designing my costume. Being a seamstress, the angel costume posed no real problem, and after a trip to our friendly WalMart for fabric and supplies, I began the creation of what turned out to be a real Christmas surprise even for me.

The angel dress was easy…..just a white one piece gown with wide sleeves that would let me wave my arms in an angelic fashion. It was soon done. Now the wings……that was another story. In all fairness…I guess I should tell you that my husband claims every project I do starts small and ends up huge! Well we all know how some husbands exaggerate ….. Actually we all know that angels have BIG wings. As it turned out my wings were just a little bit larger than I expected and it took me, Rick and our friends Jim and Marsha to help put them together. The result was spectacular! We even figured out how to attach them without me falling over. However, I failed miserably when it came to making the halo, so I drew on my Native American heritage and put a band of pearls around my forehead. (I am quite sure there are Apache Angels)

When the day arrived for us to be in Danville, Rick and I loaded up the promised animals (and that alone is a story for another time) lets just say the animals are now up to snuff on cuss words. Not from me, of course, angels don’t cuss! Joe had created a perfectly lovely manger complete with his children dressed as Mary, Joseph and the three wise men. Rick and Joe in shepherd costumes were very believable. But I soon found that the many visitors kept bumping into my wings. Rick jokingly suggested the angel should be above the manger and next thing I knew Rick and Joe found a huge ladder and (you guessed it!) before I could say no….. again…….there I was up on this huge ladder, behind the manger, waving to the growing crowd, and trying desperately not to fall off. And I’m thinking what grandmother in her right mind would stand on a ladder in town square in Danville?

And I am ashamed to say, that was not the worst of it!! After a while, I found myself really enjoying my ridiculous perch. I was waving and smiling and feeling so angelic it surprised me! Just when I was almost beginning to think I was an angel (it must have been the high altitude) being up high made my hands get cold and that reminded me I was only a silver haired grandmother so when Joe offered me his brown leather gloves I was happy to put them on. One kind gentleman asked me if angels always wore brown gloves……I informed him in a superior, angelic voice that “Angels don’t have to match”

However, the real surprise came when I stepped down for a break and children came running up, wide eyed, to see the ANGEL. One little boy asked me if I could fly……..when I said “Yes” he was thrilled! Then a little girl came shyly up and asked if she could touch me. After that it was a free for all with children and parents asking for photos with “the Angel” WOW! Who knew! Angels really are popular! Lets face it ……..I was in heaven. My Christmas came early this year in the wonder in those children’s eyes. And please don’t tell Rick but yes…….. I promised Joe I’d help again next year. Maybe I could cover those wings in white feathers……….does any one out there know how to make a halo?

And yes, this story too has a message…..making children happy is very important….even if you have to go to great lengths. At Hope’s Way, our only purpose is to make special need children happy and make them smile. Please keep us in your prayers….it works!

Part of my “list” after I count my Jesus, my husband, children, grandchildren and great grand children now consists of WATERMELON, FRIED GREEN TOMATOES and YARD SALES. Of course I also love kittens, puppies and critters in general, but what really worries me is that soon it will be months before the grocery store has abundant supplies of that wondrous watermelon, green tomatoes will be gone….. and those yard sale signs that I so dearly love, will vanish till spring when they will once again pop up everywhere like the much hunted morel mushrooms!

Now about watermelons, I find they are often on my mind. I just can’t help it. All winter long I imagine I see them in the grocery store and I dream of the first juice bite come summer. When I was young and raising a family, I never needed a doctor to tell me when I was expecting…..I suspect that is when my addiction first happened. Each time I craved watermelon it seems I was a little bit pregnant. Fortunately the pregnancies only happened three times but my addiction to watermelon remains with me to this day. My true sense of security comes when I have one in the refrigerator and one extra waiting in the wings. By the way I my husband recently tried to tempt me with a yellow watermelon, and while it was tasty, I felt I was being disloyal to the good old red.

As for my romance with green tomatoes…oh good grief, who can explain that? For years I have planted tomatoes in my yard, and to my husband’s dismay, none ever manage to ripen. Since he has absolutely no interest in gardening I was able to convince him that it’s a problem with the soil in our yard. I have managed to hide from the neighbors the fact that I sometimes sneak those fried green goodies for breakfast. Of course my secret recipe for the flour dip will go with me to the garden in the sky (along with my secret salsa recipe). One of my greatest accomplishments in life was introducing these fried green wonders to our Japanese exchange student two years ago. Just one bite of this tasty tidbit and he was my friend for life, giving new meaning to the term cultural exchange. He couldn’t wait to return to Japan with this wonderful recipe to teach to his sister who is a famous Japanese chef. (I figured having my recipe known in Japan would in no way get back here so my secret was safe)

A woman must do what a woman must do so one day, early in our marriage, I asked my husband to raise his right hand. When he finally, reluctantly, did so, I asked him to repeat after me……… “I solemnly swear… that I will never drive past a ‘blatant’ yard sale sign with out stopping”. Based on a foundation like that, our marriage continues to do quite well. However, now we frequently debate the meaning of blatant.

Now then that brings us to yard sales! There is simply nothing to compare to the pleasure of spending the day driving to those lovely little sales where who knows what treasure one may find. My car has been well trained to stop on a dime for those wonderful little signs. Even better, I confess, I sometimes “borrow” my husband’s truck. The thought of all the treasures I can put in it makes me giddy! Who needs booze? Just give me the keys to the pickup, and turn me loose at the nearest yard sale. Where else can you find a perfectly good item for 50 cents and convince the seller to take 25? I promise you, most days I have the 50 cents, it’s just the thrill of the hunt and the great sense of accomplishment!. I haven’t found anything so exciting since I found my third husband. Remind me to tell you about the first two……they didn’t like yard sales either.

By now I’m sure you’re wondering how all this gets us to angels and roses? Well, I knew you’d ask so here it is…..I really just felt I had to confess about the watermelon and green tomatoes but at Hope’s Way, we use many treasures found at yard sales to decorate and to build playground activities for the many special needs angels who visit us. In essence we take items others discard and find new uses. Most of what you will see if you visit Hope’s Way has either been donated or has come from a yard sale. So now I’ve convinced my husband that besides having fun, I’m actually helping to make the economy better and making children happy! And no my husband is not an idiot, he is actually quite intelligent, he just happens to love me and he committed to for better or for worse and just prefers to just go along with my story.

Each third Saturday of the month from April to October, Hope’s Way holds our Teddy Bear Picnic for special needs children of all ages. It’s free it’s wonderful and its fun. Entire families spend the day together just having innocent fun and enjoying being together. What a delight….to the families and to the many volunteers and donors who join us to make this event happen. If I could wave a magic wand and make roses pop up in the hands of all our wonderful donors and volunteers, you might be surprised to see how many there are and who they are. And speaking of donors……if anyone can bless us with some hay to help feed our many animals at Hope’s Way, please be and angel and call us at 522-5566. Your donation is needed and is tax deductible. We can’t promise real roses but the blessings are bountiful!