It was little Rhea’s first Christmas without her dad, and her mum wanted to make it her best Christmas ever. Are you thinking where Rhea’s daddy was? Well, he was part of a high security mission far away in the Middle East and could not make it home for Christmas.

When Rhea arrived at her little house, she found that her mum and grandmum had waited up all night for her to arrive from the boarding school. After hugging them, Rhea ran into the house, which seemed very empty without her father. All her enthusiasm seemed to have evaporated.

Her mum knew it was up to her to make this Christmas special for her.

Rhea’s father used to say that the Christmas tree was the most special decoration of all. So they set to work, bringing out the beautiful artificial tree that was stored in the huge closet. There in the closet with the tree was a wonderful array of ornaments, many of which had been her daddy’s when he was young. As they unwrapped each one, Rhea’s grandmum had a story to tell her.

Rhea’s mum decorated the tree with bright white lights and a glowing red button garland. Then Rhea and her grandmum carefully decorated the tree with the ornaments; and finally, Rhea was given the honour of lighting the tree. Once this was done, they all stopped to admire their handiwork.

And, wonder how it looked? It looked magnificent, as beautiful as the tree in the shopping centre.

But something was missing!

“Mommy!!!!!!!Where’s the star mum?” Rhea asked. The star was her favorite.

“Why, it must be here somewhere,” her mum replied, starting to sort through the boxes again.

“Your daddy, sweetheart, always packed everything carefully when he took the tree down,” Rhea’s grandmum said.

All three of them started emptying box after box. Yet, they found no star. Little Rhea’s eyes filled with tears. It was no ordinary ornament, but a beautiful golden star covered with coloured jewels and purple lights that blinked on and off. Dad had bought it for his angel some seven years ago, on their first Christmas together. So, it was extra special.

Now, on her first Christmas without him, the star was gone, too, just like her daddy.

“Don’t worry, Rhea,” her mum reassured her. “We’ll find it for you.” And with this Rhea, her mum and her grandmum formed a search group.

“Let’s start in the closet where the ornaments were,” Rhea’s mum said.

So Rhea and her mum climbed on two chairs and began to search the closet. They found her dad’s old yearbooks and photographs of relatives, Christmas cards from years gone by, cars, toy guns, and jewellery boxes, but no star.

Grandmum searched under beds and over shelves, until they had exhausted every possibility. They could see how disappointed Rhea was, although she tried not to show it.

“We could buy a new star,” grandmum offered.

“I’ll buy you a prettier one from the mall,” Rhea’s mum said.

“No, it is really okay mum,” Rhea said. “This year, we won’t have a star, just like we won’t have daddy.”

It was dark by then, and time for bed, as Santa would soon be there. As Rhea lay in the huge Victorian bed, between her mum and grandmum, she could sense snowflakes falling quietly outside.

The next morning, everyone was up early – do you know why? It was after all Christmas Day and they were eager to see what Santa had left under the tree, and second, to look for the Christmas star in the sky. After a traditional breakfast of apple pancakes, the family sat down to open the presents.

Santa had brought Rhea’s mum the oven she wanted, and grandmum a pair of red glasses and a muffler. And guess what was there for Rhea? Loads – a doll buggy she had asked for, a tiny tea set to play with, a little purse, crayons, a dainty hat and a pretty pink umbrella. And that was not all!

Rhea was about to hop over to the neighbour’s place when mum stopped her. “Rhea there’s something more for you.” Rhea turned around to find tears in her mum’s eyes. In a puzzled voice she asked, “From who mum?” There was surprise in Rhea’s voice.

“I found this gift in your dad’s closet when we got the tree down,” Rhea’s mum explained. “It was already wrapped so I put it under the tree. I think your dad’s left it for you.”

“Let me hurry and open it,” Rhea said excitedly. Shakily she opened the box. Her face lit up with joy when she unfolded the tissue paper and pulled out a glorious golden star. It was more beautiful than anything she had ever seen.

A note fell on her lap. Her voice trembled as she read it aloud -

“My darling daughter Rhea, don’t be angry with your daddy, dear. I wish I was here holding you in my arms so that you wouldn’t feel so terrible about losing your favourite star. In fact, I very much wanted to be with you. Alas! Fate has other plans. I broke your star while putting away the decorations last year, and I couldn’t bear to tell you. I knew how upset my princess would be. I thought it was time for a new one so I bought one for you. I hope it brings you as much joy as the first one. “Merry Christmas. Love, Daddy……….”

Neither Rhea nor her mum or grandmum could say anything – they wept quietly each for the wonderful person who was not there with them for Christmas, may be the first time in their lives. And, they did understand how important the mission must have been to keep him away.

As for Rhea, she brushed her tears aside and said, “Mum, this will always be my most treasured gift. Thanks daddy. I know you can hear me! Mum, we will make this Christmas very special. After all that’s the way daddy would have wanted it.”

And, yes, it was special indeed!