the topper

The funny thing is

I rarely pay attention to them...

in fact

my boys will often ask me a question

right after one has run and

I will be like,

"Oh...I'm sorry, it may have looked

like I was listening

but 

my mind was on

something
else.

Television commercials.

Then

 one will catch my eye

capture my imagination

with a brief complexity

far surpassing the original intent.

Such is the case with

the McDermott's tree topper

who has watched over the family's Christmases

for over thirty years

She shares stories that most 

would rather she

not remember

and then the tender moments we hope

we never forget

It wasn't until I paid special attention later

that I realized it was an ad for

Netflix

and how movie watching

"just might bring families together"

By that time
 I was looking at my topper

with new eyes

All the years she's been 

watching over us

All the years she has been

holding that place

of honor

atop our

tree.

If this angel could talk!

What wonderful things would she tell

what stories would I cringe

at her remembering...

Then again...

this Santa has been with my family

for generations

This is his first year at my home.

When I saw that mom had him in a heap

going to Goodwill in June

I snatched him up quickly

with Mom telling me

to scrub him up

air him out

which I didn't do

because he looks just like a Santa who 

has traveled down

many a sooty chimney

and was hugged and tugged on

by many a sticky fingered

Thompson kid!

All seven of us!

He grabbed some attention on Christmas Eve

as my siblings 

remembered his constant

presence in our past.

Those from the next generation

thought he looked

"creepy"

"deranged"

"terrorizing"

to which my granddaughter walked in

screaming,

"Santa!"

with glee.

(proving his charm must

have skipped a generation!)

Grabbed him and hugged him

and took him everywhere 

she went.

Adding to the stories

he can tell...

if only

he could talk!