Complete

When I was a little girl, my mom had my room decorated in purple. My favorite color. Purple and white eyelet curtains hung on my window, purple flowers flowed on my bedspread. I thought of names for the gingerbread family holding hands across my wall. I would trace my finger along the stenciled flowers on the side of my dresser. I loved that room. But my favorite thing was a cross stitch picture that hung on the wall. There was an angel on it and below it read, "My day is complete; I heard a child laugh." I would sit and look at that cross stitch angel and pretend like I had my very own angel watching over me and waiting to hear my laughter.

As I got older, I took down my purple decorations and changed the color on the walls. I forgot about my cross stitch angel. Until recently when I was cleaning out the attic. I came across a box my mom had given me a few years ago; in it was some childhood memorabilia. I sat and sorted through old diaries and letters. Silly pictures I took with friends. At the bottom of the box was my old friend staring right up at me. My cross stich angel and the words, "My day is complete; I heard a child laugh."

And it occured to me. As a child, I was hopeful that my angel would hear my laughter. But now my days are filled with the laughter of my own children. Giggles when I tickle their bellies, hysterical laughter as I'm chasing them around the room, pure merriment as they splash in the bathtub. I'm so blessed to have each and every day be complete through the laughter of my children. And I can only imagine that somewhere there's an angel delighting in that laughter!