With Christmas just a few weeks away, it was time to get our family Nativity out of storage. As I opened the top, I was suddenly aware of the quiet. My son, Joseph, was finishing his first semester at college. His older sister, Maddie, was a college senior and getting ready to graduate. Their absence meant I was setting up the Nativity on my own for the first time in years. I winced; it was my tradition with the kids. This year, everything—including Christmas decorations—would be changing.
I unwrapped the first figurine, the camel. I’d intentionally chosen a Nativity set that looked like the delicate porcelain one I’d grown up with. , I thought, turning the resin figure over in my hand. The camel I’d grown up with
