I took my mom to get her hair cut.
Since she had chemo over a year ago, 
no hairdresser’s been able to tame her soft white hair.
She looks like Punk Rocker meets Alfalfa.

Once, I saw her elderly tablemate trying to fix it.
I felt so bad.
I blamed myself.
Then I remembered,
Mom was the one who wanted it cut shorter.
She’s the one who thinks it’s fine.

That’s when I saw a part of myself so clearly–
the part that feels responsible,
the part that wants to make everything better,
wonders if I should take the job nobody wants,
fleetingly considers buying the house that’s still on the market,
and has already found the solution to your problem.

I’ve named this part of me Rosie,
as in We-Can-Do-It, Rosie the Riveter.

The morning I wanted to have a little chat with Rosie
to let her know who’s in charge,
I read the story of Saul’s conversion.
He was the guy trying to fix the problem of those Christians
when he got knocked off his horse, blinded,
and then lovingly restored and set in a new direction.

He wanted what was best for his people and his God
but going about it all wrong.

I suspect it’s the same for Rosie.

So, maybe, when I meet up with her for coffee,
I need to do more listening
than speaking.

“Parts are little inner beings who are trying their best to keep you safe.”
― Richard C. Schwartz, No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model

Credits and References:
Image of Alfalfa from the Little Rascals Creative Commons.
Saul’s conversion is in Acts 9.
The Conversion of Rosie: Part 1 by Esther Hizsa, 2025
Image of Rosie the Riveter by Norman Rockwell by Steven Zucker. Used with permission.

© Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim, 2025.
The unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission from Esther Hizsa is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided there is a link to the original content and credit is given as follows: © Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim 2013-2025.  http://www.estherhizsa.com