Joy of Christmas

An ornately-decorated Christmas tree sparkles in the corner of the family room as Olga Espejo strokes her three-year-old daughter’s hair.

A lot has changed since last holiday season, she says.

Last year, there was no laughter in the Espejo home.

There were no Christmas lights or fun-loving holiday get-togethers.

And there was no sign of Espejo’s precious only daughter Maria, who had been kidnapped and swept off to South America by her father.

“I was living a nightmare,” Espejo said of the 11-month ordeal that ended recently when she reclaimed her daughter in Colombia. “I was crying all the time, and thinking God must be punishing me.”

Espejo’s harrowing journey to get her daughter back — one that involved dozens of officials and agencies here and in South America — began December 9 last year, just days before Maria’s second birthday.

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