Freckles

 When my daughter was in kindergarten, we read a book about a little girl that had freckles.

"I wish I had freckles," she said one night as we did one last cuddle before turning out the light.

The next morning I suggested I give her temporary freckles by putting dots of eye liner on her cheeks. She went to kindergarten proudly with her freckles. Adding freckles became a morning part of getting dressed.

In the supermarket one day, a woman came up to me and my freckled daughter. "You know," she said, "I'm sure you could find a plastic surgeon to remove those freckles.

I know she meant it kindly so I resisted calling her an interfering old biddy or other B terms. I also resisted saying, "And a wash cloth will do the same." Instead I said, "Thank you."