Greyhound Family Tales: Hazel collected this leaf while I was taking photos of her today, and she asked me to hold onto@it while she was in her musical theater class. I obliged and took it back to the car with me. As I sit here waiting for her to finish class, I admired the leaf with its fiery red and burnt orange hues. I held it up to my window to take in the vibrant colors made brighter by the sun. And then I noticed the back. Veined and more of a tan in color. Two sides of the same leaf. And it struck me. Both sides exist, yet most likely only the colorful side is noticed and admired while the other is still there, just masked by the more vibrant one. And then I thought, what a metaphor for life and how we are whole beings but people only see what we choose to portray. But there’s more to each of us than that. The happy person who struggles with mental health. The shy person who is easily overlooked. The confident person who struggles to know they’re making the right decision or has self-doubt. The person who feels defined by whatever labels they or society has adorned them with, but they feel they are so much more. And this leaf, beautiful and fiery red. But so much more if we look past the surface of one side to find more. 🍁