May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice! - Proverbs 23:25

She was having a hard time buying me gifts. She never knew quite what to get me, so about five years ago, my sister-in-law decided that I needed to start an angel collection. She wrapped my first one and presented it to me that Christmas. It was a beautiful porcelain angel with long delicate wings. Ever since, she has continued to build me one of the most delightful, eclectic collections of angels one can imagine.

Following a wrestling match (which included all four of my sons and their father), I found my tiniest angel cowering behind the television set, unable to fly back to its home. One of its miniature ceramic wings had been clipped completely off when a flailing limb had sent it flying.

Quite upset, I picked up the itsy pieces and stomped into the kitchen. I hunted in every messy drawer 'til I found the glue that guarantees it can put everything from Humpty Dumpty to china teapots back together again. The accompanying brochure mentions it special powers to bond paper, rubber, ceramics, leather, and wood.

After two minutes of holding the pieces firmly in place, the only objects stuck together were my fingers! The angel was as wingless as it had been when it first struck the floor.

I approached my sons and tried to plead my case for a kinder, gentler household, but they were much too amused by my lack of gluing prowess to pay much attention.

"Look. Mom glued herself together!"

"I always knew you were stuck on yourself, Mom."

"Mom's just trying to get out of doing the dishes."