Knowing

I took some time on the weekend to just “be”. What does that mean? Well, I just hunkered down and did some reading, made some nice comfort food, and watched some T.V. Placed no expectations on myself; I just did whatever came to me that didn’t require much effort. The only time I left the house was to do a little Christmas shopping with my daughter. Although I didn’t feel like it at the time, this proved to be the most therapeutic thing that I could have done. Not because I think that “buying” is an effective path toward healing one’s soul (although sometimes it does work!!) , but because we had so much fun together.

My daughter knew that my week had been anything but positive, and it was like she just figured out what was best for me. Much the way a mother cheers up a child who has lost a toy. I don’t think she did it consciously, and maybe she just wanted to go shopping, but small gifts come in the most obscure ways. She asked me if we could stop at Starbucks for a coffee, and I assumed that we would do the usual; grab a latte, get in the car and run our errands. But no, she wanted to just sit at a table and relax with the coffee. And so we did. We chatted about everything and nothing. We laughed at ourselves and others; we talked about some important topics and some things that didn’t matter. Finally, we decided it was time to move on. We did some of her shopping and, then we happened to walk by a rack of hats. Until that moment, our mood was light and calm; our day, uneventful, yet peaceful.

She grabbed a hat and pulled it over her head. It was plaid with grey fake fur and it not only covered her head, but it encompassed it and her ears, her forehead and part of her eyes, her large grin shining through. I looked at her, and uncontrollable laughter burst from my entire being. I was overwhelmed with the vision standing in front of me. She then reciprocated by joining in with a giggle followed by a snort. She grabbed her cell phone and proceeded to take a picture of herself; laughter. I grabbed another hat and exchanged it for the one she had on; another photo and more laughter. And thus the domino effect continued; hat, laughter, photo, hat, laughter, photo. We eventually had to leave as we could not control ourselves and we were causing a disturbance.

I left the store feeling exhausted, but rejuvenated. Once home, I laid down on the couch and closed my eyes. I reflected back on the scene at the hat store as if I was an outsider looking in. It made me chuckle quietly inside. I was amazed at the fact that my daughter had given me the opportunity to let go and enjoy. I think she really just wanted to go Christmas shopping, but then a part of me thinks it was as if she knew...............did she?

Always Having Fun!!!!