She hugs me when I walk in and she hugs me when I'm done. She calls me honey. She tells me when it's safe to travel to El Salvador and when it's not. She tells me she felt bad about Sunday.
"What about Sunday?"
"I didn't want to go to stake conference; I wanted to clean my house."
"I didn't go. My back went out."
"I feel so guilty when I don't go."
"I don't."
"I went. It was okay. Then I fixed dinner for my mother and me and then . . ." She covers her lips with a hand in shame. "I lay on the couch from one 'o clock to ELEVEN 'o clock and watched romantic movies on the cable channel!" She shakes her head. "I was so bad."
"Sounds like a perfect Sunday to me," I say.
"I didn't do any work, but it was so fun."
Guilt without sin. I run into it everywhere, myself included. Balbina is one of the kindest, hard-working women I know. She has to feel guilt about a day of romantic movies? I think not.
Her hugs alone make me want to move to South America. Balbina. To say her name is like a party in my mouth. Balbina.
I don't do guilt anymore. I can't. I won't.
ReplyDeletep.s. Seriously? No chin hair? Not even one of those stray old lady black hairs on your chin? Hit me at age forty (stray old lady black chin hairs--the hidden shame of perimenopausal women)
A lovely tribute to a lovely woman. When my wrist/hand were in a cast, I went to her place and she washed my hair. Kind is the terrific word for her.
ReplyDeleteShe sounds fabulous. I want to be her client. Do you think I could interest her in moving to Iowa? We are first in line for everything political. Would that be a selling point or a negative?
ReplyDeleteI love that her hugs are a positive.
We weigh ourselves down needlessly in many ways, guilt without sin being one of them. Hairdressers who can can do the job well and soothe/cheer our souls are worth a lot. It took me many years to find one in HI and it isn't a $50 bargain, but it is worth it.
ReplyDeleteI get my haircut at cookie cutters! (:
ReplyDeleteHer name does sound like a party in the mouth. I decided to shave the hairs on my face a few years ago. I rationalized that men's facial hair would be like trees so it couldn't hurt right? Let's just say that what I didn't know then was that each facial hair may not come in thicker or darker but there's a whole lot more of it then when I first started. I've tried threading (a new torture for women by women) and waxing. None is appealing.
ReplyDelete