No photography today, folks. Or what seems like for months. But occasionally I feel inclined to share a random musing every now and then. I’d like to consider myself a deep thinker, I have a lot of time to think. I’m sure that during this thinking time, I could be snapping away, but I am still in that blind funk where I just can’t seem to see things as artists do, but I digress…
A couple of months ago a friend came to see me at work. She was picking up a consent form for my son to attend a week long retreat with her church. My friend is actively involved in her church and also happens to be the mother of my sons half brothers. Along with the two, she hosts a brood of 4 other children in her household. In that brief period of time when I handed her the form, I noticed she had chopped all of her hair off! It was now in a pixie cut. She asked me if I liked it, to which I replied, “I love it! You look like a mom!”
She was taken aback. “Um…thanks?” She said. I was confused at her response, and second guessed my compliment. “I just mean you look Great, Mon.”
I guess I just let it go, as did she. Since then, we have seen each other numerous times. And to be honest, she is more than just a friend to us, she is like family. My son wanted to spend more time with his brothers so she began inviting him to their youth fellowship events and eventually, it led us to begin attending church with her family on Sunday mornings. Normally, my son and I take time on Sunday mornings to visit my dad, but my mother was relieved when I asked her if we could instead attend church again. We now visit Saturday mornings 🙂
Being that today was Sunday, we took our places in the front row this morning at service. During the choirs morning song, I turned in the pew and got a really good look at her, my friend, my sister in spirit. As her daughter lay curled in her lap, I noticed she had gotten her hair trimmed recently to maintain her pixie look. It made me remember what I had said to her that one afternoon and I thought about what my words really meant.
“You look like a mom…”
I didn’t mean that she didn’t look like an individual. I didn’t mean that it made her look older. What I meant to say was,
Your new haircut makes you look so well-put-together, like you have all the secrets and hints on how to make it through each and every day without losing your shit. You look brave, like nothing in the world could scare you away from being exactly who you are. It compliments your eyes in the way they light up when you see a familiar face or when you meet a new friend. And it completes the look of relief that flashes across your face when you see me walk towards you, knowing that you will be able to speak adult for a short time before settling back into story time and nursery rhymes. You look caring, as one does who wipes noses and kisses boo-boos. You look a bit tired and it shows that you woke up early this morning to make breakfast for your family, helped dress them to get them where they needed to go for the day. And it brightens your smile, so that even though you may be a bit tired, you’ll never let on or complain about it for one second, knowing that some may not be as fortunate. It makes you look happy, like the confidence that radiates because your life is exactly the way it’s supposed to be and it makes you look like a force to be reckoned with, when anyone or anything crosses the line and disrupts the harmony of your family. You look like you love hard, and fight even harder to make sure everyone is well taken care of.
You look like a mom…and it’s so beautiful.
❤
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Chasing the Light 