Angels Watching Over

     In late March, I was in Washington DC helping friends take care of their newborn twin girls.  I spent most of February - May, 2010, tending our twin grandson and granddaughter, so I have experience these new parents could use.  While I was there the dad's parents came by for a Sunday afternoon visit. They brought a delicious lunch from a swanky market, and his mother carried in a large, framed piece held close against her chest.  After lunch, when the babies were down for yet another nap, the new grandmother presented her gift. The hanging was a stylized angel of subtle colors. She hooks rugs and other things and had made this image for her grandchildren.  I asked if she had created the image, and she said that some years ago she had found a small tile of an angel on a trip to Miami.  Last fall, she decided to see if she could create a hooked piece of that angel. She had lost the tile, but she had a photo and went to her local yarn shop for help in enlarging the angel and choosing the colors. She had already begun work on it when her son announced that she would be a grandmother, so she decided to give it to the new family.
     While she was telling this story, recognition set in. I smiled with delight. Over ten years ago, a dear friend gave me a small colorful tile angel she found in Sienna, Italy. I had just built and created a new home office, so I hung the little tile outside my office door as a welcome to visitors who arrive and a blessing when they depart.  The angel hooked and framed is the very same image!