The pirate and the piglet

Last year, while living in England, my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of only 38. It was hard for her and for us, her family, to be so far from each other, but the care she was getting from the London hospital was excellent; her employer gave her unlimited time off work; and her partner and friends were very supportive, so she stayed there.

A month ago, on completion of her treatment, she arrived back for a month's 'R & R', though a lot more recreation than rest. When she arrived, she had very little hair and wore a scarf. My 7-year-old was fascinated with S's head gear, and asked her lots of questions. S took off the scarf to show him her fine, very short hair. E asked her which scarf she preferred: the pink one (which made me think of A A Milne's Piglet) she wore to bed or the black one she wore out. She liked both for different reasons, and asked E which one he preferred. He said he liked the pink one 'because it's cute, but I like the black one best, because it's like a pirate's hat!'.

When S left, her hair had grown back enough so she felt she could go scarf-less. It was still very short, but looked like a radical, funky do, which put one finger up to the cancer. She left to go back to England yesterday and, on the way to the airport, decided that she will post E the pirate scarf as a surprise.