What Hat Are You Wearing Now?

 

 

What hat are you wearing right now?

When our kids were little, sometimes it felt like we wore the hats of the short-order cook, the chauffeur, and the nurse. As they grew, some of us put on our coach’s hat, later our college-application-essay editor’s hat, and later still, our resume editor’s hat and wardrobe consultant’s hat.

During a recent visit to the New York Botanical Garden, I felt just like this bedazzled tree with its “hat” of foliage.

Though my grown kids weren’t visiting the garden with me that day, I was thinking about them and the exciting life changes they were all having. I nurtured them and protected them for many years, but now my roots were spreading. They are still attached to me, but they are also their own entities, growing stronger and more independent every day.

The fact that the tree and I were wearing virtually identical costumes was an added bonus!