my very own Nana angels

So I have a story that goes back as far as I can remember and then a few years before that even. You see my late Nana would give my mom an angel every Christmas. Not just any angel. A very special angel. An all white angel from Goebel/Hummel from Germany. She began giving them to my mom in 1976 which happens to be my year of birth.

Every year Goebel comes out with a new angel and she is always holding something new, a harp, flute, flower, drum etc. And she has the year on her dress and she is a bell, of course. Nana and Pepe’s “Christmas box” by far beat anyone else’s each and every year as I grew up. The UPS man would pull up and we would spend hours upon hours arranging and rearranging what they sent to us.

BUT. Nana’s angel was different. Special, really. My mother always opened her angel right then and put her right out on the shelf with the rest of them. No waiting until Christmas Eve like the other gifts. The Nana angel was opened right away. So here we are now, 33 years later and my Nana gave these beautiful angels to each of her nine children each and every Christmas.

What I didn’t know is that she would have to place her order for them in the spring each year for the following Christmas in order to be sure to have them. Last spring as she was dying she placed her order for her 2009 angels. Her final Christmas gift to her nine children were passed out at her funeral…everyone got their 2009 angel, albeit 5 months early.

So I got to thinking. I finally have some pieces of furniture that I can actually display things in enclosed glass. The only thing I have ever really collected is doctor and nurse dolls/figurines, etc. I have two sets of salt and pepper shakers from my Nana on display in an antique buffet but I got to thinking about those angels more and more. They were such an exciting part of my mom’s Christmas each year when I was a child. At least that is how I remember it. It was always like….”what is she holding this year?!”.

I’ve decided to collect these angels in honor of my Nana. It will take me awhile but it can be done. I have already found a few on ebay. I have 1976-1979 and 2009 and I think my Aunt Laura may have an extra or two that I may be able to get too.

my Nana angels shelf

My mom said that when Nana started to give them to she and her siblings they were less than $4 each and now they are almost $40 each! So anyways, food for thought. If you have a daughter, or son even…maybe start a tradition of some sort when he/she graduates from high school or college or gets married by giving something like my Nana’s angel.