I sat patiently, staring off, thinking of my day.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw brown beautiful hair slide to the floor.

I sat up. Suddenly awake. Oh, I hope she likes it. I suppose it will grow out if she decides that it isn’t the way she wanted it. Oh, I hope she is happy. I think she is smiling, but she is so very kind and polite. What if she is just being nice to the lady doing all the cutting?

I sat back on the bench, aware of how intently I was studying the scene.

I continued reading my book. Falling into my alternate reality for a moment. My thoughts wandered sometime after the third sentence. My children. If I want a hair cut to go this well, if my heart is racing over a few inches that will grow back, how on earth am I supposed to cope with the ups and downs ahead of us? Everything around me instantly became crisper. I heard the music, saw bright colors, heard my own sigh. I am in a ‘Cool Cuts’. Am I really going to have an epiphany here? Really?

The haircut is stunning! She looks older. She quietly reminds me how much more seriously I take things than she does. Don’t worry mom, it’ll grow back if you don’t like it.

I wear the worries, so many of them self imposed, around my shoulders like heavy weights. What a hypocrite I become. I can rest. I can love. I can shine. I can let the worries fade and crumble. I will find something else to wear around my shoulders.