I had had a busy day and I was late to the airport. Not that it mattered as the plane was even later. But the result was my daughter and I in a serious state of disarray. There wasn’t much I could do about my own appearance. But I did have a twisty, so while we waited, I decided to French braid her wild red hair. She was trying to learn to tell time while we waited. So between weaving strands of her locks, I moved the arms back and forth on the face of my watch, giving her a puzzle to solve while I worked.
Next to us an old woman had moved in to take a seat. As I braided Mary Rose’s hair I felt her watching us discreetly. For some reason I did not have the urge to speak to her as I usually would. Instead I continued to weave and enjoy passing the idle time with my daughter.
When I was finished she finally spoke. “I never could do that…. My sister could…. she tried to teach me, but I never did learn. I used to have to take my girls over to her house each morning so that she could do their hair”.
She looked strangely sad at what seemed to be a trivial conversation. I suspected she was thinking about her sister, who I doubted was still alive. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was talking about something besides hair. I struggled for the correct response and when it came I spoke hesitantly to be sure I was understood. “ I think that sometimes, when a person is unable to do this, it is only because they can’t keep track of the pieces”.
Her eyes were sharp, full of intelligence and light and as she spoke she held my gaze. “That is exactly right… I never could hold onto all the pieces… The silence between us seemed really loud, as she seemed lost in thought.
A second later her adult grandson, overjoyed to see her, came and took her by the elbow and helped her up gently. As she started to walk away, she turned and said “Thank you... for letting me watch you braid your daughter’s hair.”
I have thought about that almost every day since then. Every time I do it fills me with a sense of awe to think that someone easily 3 times my age could get so much from something so little, something I take for granted every day.
I guess I am still thinking about it.