My daughter, Bryony, is fifteen years old, and for most of her life, it’s genuinely just been the two of us together. Her father, Rowan, was declared dead when she was only four. A car accident, out on a rain-slick road just outside town. Fire. A closed casket. A police officer sitting at my own kitchen table, saying quietly, « I’m so genuinely sorry. » A funeral I barely actually remember. A death certificate I signed through a fog so thick I could hardly even read my own name written on it.
A few weeks earlier, my own hair had started coming out in clumps. So I cut it short myself, wrapped scarves tight around my head, and tried acting like it genuinely didn’t matter much.
Then one particular afternoon, Bryony came home from school, dropped her backpack by the door, and held out a small box toward me. « I got you something, » she said. I was sitting at the kitchen table, pretending to drink soup. « From where, exactly? » « Just open it already. »
I looked up at her instead. « Bryony… how, exactly? » She swallowed hard and looked down at the floor. She didn’t answer right away. She simply reached up and pushed back the hood of her sweatshirt instead.
Her hair was genuinely gone entirely. I stood up so fast my own chair scraped hard across the floor. « What did you actually do? » She said quickly, « I sold some of it, and gave the rest to Ms. Delphine, over at the salon. She made this wig specifically for you. »
She swallowed again, looking down. « I knew we genuinely couldn’t afford buying one ourselves. And I know you always say it’s simply hair, but I also know you genuinely miss feeling like yourself again. »
I laughed straight through sudden tears. I crossed the kitchen in two quick steps and pulled her tight against me, hard enough that she let out a small, surprised sound. She pulled back just enough looking at me directly. « You’re genuinely my mom. » That was it entirely. I cried. Full-on, ugly, helpless crying.
She hugged me again and muttered, « Okay, wow. I was genuinely just trying doing something nice here. I honestly didn’t expect this much sobbing. » I laughed straight through the tears still. « You are genuinely unbelievable, you know that? » « You raised me. » She shrugged simply. « You gave up considerably more than that, though. »
