I remember reading an article not too long ago about how seventy percent of the woman are unhappy with their hair.
I was born with curly hair. In line with the above statistics, for most of my life I preferred styling it straight. As a teenager, my friends and I used to get together and iron (real clothes iron) our hair. I gasp even now thinking how miraculous it was that none of us ended up with third-degree burns.
Fast forward a decade or two. Having a plateful of responsibility with children and job, I made myself embrace the curly attitude. Yes, for me at least, it was positive. At the time, I was working as an engineer. I was there for my brain not my style.
Again, moving forward a few years, Jim and I were published authors. At our first meeting with the publicist, she took one look at our publicity photo and said, ‘straighten your hair and have the photos redone. It looks more professional that way.’
Gasp, shock, annoyance. No, we didn’t have those pictures redone, but in the back of my mind the germ of this idea sprouted that I look better, more professional, if I straighten the curls.
Since that day, I would arrive at conferences with curly hair and straighten the curls for events. Hence, the joke started that Jim had two wives. I look very different from one to the next.
As the years passed, added to the mix of curly and straight, was the coloring. Red tone this month. Highlights next month. And every three weeks, the gray would poke through.
And now we’re where I am today, and a new hairstyle has been born. Jim and I had a conversation with the oncologist about the side effects of the chemo I’m on. As far as the hair, she said, you won’t lose it all, but it’ll thin out.
Well, there are a lot of things these days that I don’t have control over. The taste of food, the tiredness, the aches, and pain. But I can have control of my hair. So, this morning a hairdresser came to the house, and I sat in the chair and told her I needed something different. I needed a pick me up. I needed something that says I’m in control.
And she did her magic. What do you think?
Are you happy with your hair?
A friend has been kind enough to set up a GoFundMe fundraiser.
Here is the link to that page.
Thank you!