Clean Hair

I got down from the attic the rocking horse that my mom and dad got for Katherine when she was a little girl. We were taking it to Olive at her new house, but its mane and tail were nasty from decades of attic funk. It needed a shampoo.

Did you girls put your little one up on the kitchen counter to get their hair washed in the sink? I was so glad when we graduated from washing hair in the tub to the kitchen!! No more crying!

As I washed horsey's tail, I looked up through the window and saw one of my most vivid memories of Katherine as a child.....

She was probably four or five years old and the following day was picture day at school. Getting her hair washed was on my to-do list and we had just finished washing it in the sink. I had combed it out and was thinking of how pretty and clean it would be the next morning. As soon as I said, "All done", she hit the floor running out to the back yard to play a little longer in the late afternoon sun. I put the lid on the shampoo, rinsed out the sink, and just before gathering up the towel and wiping off the counter, glanced out the window above to see Katherine swinging on her swing that hung from a black walnut tree at the top of the hill. The last of the sun's rays slanted down through the leaves and caught her in silhouette as she leaned back as far as she could, legs reaching for the sky, and freshly cleaned hair dragging through the dirt.

I remember thinking how much I loved her, how preciously oblivious she was to my chore list that evening, and how few years she would lie on the counter to get her hair washed. Then I just let her play!

Until tomorrow,

Shelli

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt