Hansel and Gretel

Norman Vincent Peale wrote "Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer, and more beautiful." 

Years ago, for the first 7 years of my life, my father would put these  Hansel and Gretel  pixies on the tree. They'd had them for ages. Even then they were worn and silent.Well, not these ones, exactly. That's the amazing part of this.

He would hide them  in the tree, and tell me  they had to find their way home. Hansel and Gretel  lost in the Christmas Tree. All they had to see by were the Christmas tree lights. Like the Star of Bethlehem, he would say.

 Every year he would tell me the same story. And every year, Hansel and Gretel would find a place of honour in the depths of the Christmas tree. It never got old. They were just little dolls, not worth much. But to me they were the stuff of  stories.

 One day in March, of 1968, my father died.And that Christmas those pixies still came out of their little box , to be  hidden in the branches of the Christmas tree.And every year after that, till it came time that my mother died, and it was time to clear out the house and move into a new chapter.

  I remember going through the decorations, finding Hansel and Gretel, and putting them back. I gave them away in one fell swoop, not wanting to be reminded of  all those Christmases long gone. I regretted it over the years. No Hansel and Gretel to hide in the tree.No pixies to find their way home.

 For years  I tried to find them. But they had become vintage stock. Originals that were  very hard to find.  I managed to find other elves. From the 1950's as well. But not Hansel and Gretel.  The other elves  found a home here again.
                     Now they gleefully  torment the cats.......

  But no  Hansel and Gretel, linked arm in arm. I couldn't believe I'd given up  Hansel and Gretel. They were just  cloth and felt and plastic.Just little things. Nothing earth shattering. They  reminded me so much  of the magic  and the mystery. Hiding them in the tree,surrounded by twinkling lights. Then reading the story of the Magi.It was a tradition.
     "For the spirit of Christmas fulfills the greatest hunger of mankind. " (Loring A. Schuler)

(Cloth and felt Angel 1940's)

  This year, I decided to check into eBay.Would try one more time. I've never gone there before. So I surfed around to the Elf section. Did not know there was an "Elf Section" to begin with.  There they were. In between plaster of paris  elves and gnomes made out of macaroni. The same ones my dad put in the tree.

 Hansel and Gretel, all pouty and forlorn. Sad little things. Lonesome. Stuck in the woods.  I have never bid so fast and furious . Seemed like no one actually wanted them anyways. I think I over and triple bid. I won them for $15. Wouldn't have meant much to anyone else. Just rather worn little pixies, looking a little tired.

                                        
        "He who has not Christmas in his heart, will not find it under a tree." (Roy L. Smith)

 I not only received one pair, but  TWO pairs of Hansel and Gretel. Still looking lonesome. Still trying to find their way home.  Amongst the lights once more. I can still see my dad placing them in the tree, and Christmas will be  a little sweeter this year.
     "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year."
                                                                (A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens)