Todays Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul

[Guest guest]

The Cap

By Molly Lemmons

It was a darling cap. It was crocheted with angora yarn, and attached

to

the soft peak at the top was a little ball of angora fuzz. Strings tied the

cap

securely under the chin.

Our little girl was six years old when we purchased the cap, and

because of

her susceptibility to earaches, we made sure she never left the house in the

winter without it. But she hated that cap! She would think of any " reason "

in

the world not to wear it. Once she exhausted all excuses, she simply hid

it.

One morning when the school-bus driver honked for her, we were again

searching for the cap! " But I didn't hide it last night, " our daughter

wailed

pitifully.

" You've hidden it before, so why should I believe you? " I asked.

Exasperated, I hurried her out the door to the waiting bus. Calling

after

her, I shouted, " Don't cry to me tonight when you have an earache! "

I closed my door and the bus drove away. As I gathered the laundry, my

anger built. She knew exactly where she had hidden the cap. Muttering, I

opened the washing machine and there I saw The Cap! Just where I had thrown

it

the night before!

How ashamed I felt. I paced the floor watching the clock. It would be

9:15 before first recess. Could I wait that long to tell her how sorry I

was?

At 9:00, I drove up to school and parked by the playground. Finally,

the

bell rang, and the first-graders streamed out for recess. There she was! I

stepped outside the car and called to her. Her face lit up when she saw me

and

she bounced toward me.

" It's my mommy! " she squealed to the friends who followed her. She

threw

her little arms around me, genuinely glad to see me. As I hugged her to me,

tears filled my eyes.

" Oh, Lucinda, " I cried. " I am so sorry. I found your cap where I put

it

last night. Can you please forgive me? " She looked puzzled for a moment,

hugged me and, giggling, ran quickly back to play.

Years later, I found papers and notes from her college classes. As I

opened one of her old notebooks, I came across an assignment sheet that an

English professor had given her. The instructions on it were to write a

paper

about an incident in your life that had profoundly affected you.

Stapled to the sheet was the essay she had written. It was entitled,

simply, " The Cap: " Across the top, the professor had written a glowing

critique

of the paper and marked it with an A-plus.

The final paragraph of the essay summed up the effect " the cap

incident "

had on her life: " ...and I learned that I had a mother who could not only

admit

it when she made a mistake, but would even apologize for it.... "