Even angels are having a hard time this winter

She's flat on her back, her dress is a mess but her halo is intact.

With few visible injuries, a Christmas angel lies frozen in a Mundelein snowbank.

Her eyes are wide open. Her left hand is raised as if flagging down passing cars. None of them stop to help.

She's on Thomas Boulevard, but a village plow may have pushed her far from home--tumbling and tossing her along with chunks of loose pavement and rock salt.

She's endured one of the worst winters in the last 10 years. More than 50 inches of snow has fallen since Christmas not to mention the wicked wind-chills.

Think of the lofty heights from which she's fallen. Once prominent on the family tree, looking down from above, she blessed the holiday with a bit of heaven. Now, she's upside down in the slush, her life literally in the gutter.

How did this happen? Who can we blame?

There are two possibilities. Neither is pleasant.

Maybe it was a tragic mistake. In a moment of uncaring neglect, the Christmas tree gets dragged to the street for pick-up with our little angel still clinging to a branch. The petite cries of her angelic voice go unheard. Who forgot to remove her?

Or was it willful? Did the family get bored with her? Was she rejected for a younger, prettier model? Thrown out with the turkey bones and empty cartons of eggnog? Tossed aside like used goods?

And now what will become of her? Will she lie there till spring when a village worker disposes of her like road-kill? What if a couple of third-grade boys fling her into the nearby creek for a few laughs?

Or maybe someone will rescue her, clean her up and return her to the glory she once enjoyed? Maybe nine months from now, she'll be back on top of a Douglas fir, next to a warm fireplace.

We can only hope.