On a summer evening, two neighbor children are running around in T-shirts. I’m wearing a T-shirt, too, under a flannel shirt. My fleece jacket is nearby. Being warm is a priority for me and I came to it early, being born in December. All my baby pictures show me in a bonnet.
Maybe because my daughter was born in September, she never really took to bonnets. I made her wear one, but as soon as she turned the corner on the way to the school bus, she took it off.
Then, somewhere in her teens, Sara began pulling the sleeves of her shirts down over her hands. “Safety cuffs? I asked and she nodded. It wasn’t just about being warm but about feeling safe.
I had finally figured that out, thanks to my bare-headed daughter.
I know that safety is an illusion. Nothing can guarantee it—not money or power or prayer—and yet we never stop seeking it. And it wasn’t long before I noticed shirts for sale with a small loop on the cuffs for a thumb.
Other people want to feel safe, too. Of course they do.
