hair

So I have a friend named Bec. We met at color me happy. Its kinda one of the only places I get to meet people because of the time spent there and all. I consider Bec to be part of the family. I can't imagine my world without her or her laughter...I mean, she seriously cracks me up. Funny how some random person comes into our studio to paint, we chat a bit, they come back more and more often, something makes a connection and POOF!...we're friends/family and we're both boo-hooing because the day has come that she is moving to Virginia. Her husband Kevin is in the Navy and she wanted to continue to live with him...crazy, I know.



Anywho, my Bec is great. She's unique for MANY reasons but one that I find inspiring and fascinating and sometimes I'm even a little jealous of is the fact that she has no hair. I know, that is a great wig right? Most people don't realize that Bec has Alopecia unless she tells you because of her fab wig.



One night, a few of us girls went out to dinner and ended the evening at the tattoo parlor...I know, who actually does that? That night Bec finally got her own "hare"! :)

About a year ago I decided that I was going to start growing out my hair to donate. I never knew how hugely expensive great "human hair" wigs are until I was friends with Bec. She has also shared so many hilarious stories about growing up and living with bad wigs. Kids grow like weeds anyway so most people can't invest thousands of dollars into their child's hair just to have them outgrow it. I can't imagine the stress parents feel...everyone wants to give their kids the best...

So I'm at about 10 inches of hair. To be honest, its driving me a bit crazy. I'm not a fan of feeling long hair on my neck. I haven't had my hair this long since I got married almost 10 years ago. But I will happily do it for a bit longer because I have hair and it can grow (rather quickly, actually) and my friend Bec doesn't. While I can't donate my hair directly to her, I want her to choose where I will donate it...

Her birthday is coming up next month so I figured that would be a fitting day to get my hair chopped off. When I told her what I was doing she said she was honored. Honestly, this is the laziest thing I have ever done for anyone. I mean, I've NOT gotten my hair cut to maybe make a person feel better about themselves. And while I AM happy that someone somewhere will benefit from my laziness (I mean that doesn't happen very often! :) ) The real reason I'm doing it is to show Bec how much she has impacted my life.

We used to meet at the YWCA for Sunrise Yoga class at 6 AM. I know, ridiculous. The 1st class Bec came to, she came in without her wig. I was so inspired by her confidence and pride in who she was. Later, she told me she had never been anywhere in public, aside from Alopecia conferences, without her wig. Wow. And yes, she got weird looks and even some pretty rude "cancer" comments and yet she keeps a smile and her sense of humor. She recently became a mom and I know that she is instilling that confidence and pride and sense of self into her daughter.

I am honored to call her a friend and I will be honored to cut off my hair and donate it for another "Bec" out there. Maybe she will get a needed boost of confidence because of my small contribution.

So...

How is your hair? You only need about 7-8" to be able to donate...it takes up to 3 or 4 donations from different people to create one wig. I've got a great lady to cut my hair into my new sassy 'do! Want to join me?? :)