A Worthy Cause

Upon my engagement, and having worn my hair short for several years, I decided to grow my hair for my wedding 'do'.  The problem with my hair is that it is naturally curly/wavy, and I like to wear it straight.  Well, the longer my hair gets, the more difficult it is to straighten.  I digress.

As my wedding approached, and I had run out of creative ways to style my long hair, I kept telling people that in addition to getting married, I was excited to get rid of all of my hair!  I don't know how it came to mind, but I decided to donate my 'wedding hair' to Locks of Love.  Knowing that my hair would go to such a wonderful cause made me even more excited to cut it all off! 

Around Thanksgiving of last year I had had enough -- I couldn't do ANYTHING with my hair because it was so long!  I went to the salon and was determined to do whatever I could to be able to style/straighten my insanely long head of hair.  Out of sheer frustration,  I had quite a bit of length cut off and tons of layers put in...putting my hair donation in serious jeopardy.  While I felt disappointed that I might not be able to donate, I was now able to do something with my hair :)  (However, I still had months to go before my wedding.)   

My wedding day came much faster than I ever would have imagined (after a year of planning).  On my wedding 'to do' list was scheduling my post-wedding hair appointment.  Eager to get it done (especially before leaving for my honeymoon a week after the wedding), I scheduled an appointment for 3 days after my wedding. 

During my wedding weekend, I found out that a family member of mine had been quietly battling stage 3 ovarian cancer.  While Locks of Love is an organization to help children with hair loss due to any medical condition, I couldn't help but think about my aunt -- my donation became so much more important.  Finally, the day of my hair appointment came.  I sat in the chair and held my breath while my stylist measured my braid...10 INCHES exactly!  I found myself crying in that chair, out of relief that I had met the minimum length for donation, and out of the joy and happiness of being able to donate. 

Thus, I happily sent in my donation with a note, stating that I hoped that my 'wedding hair' helped make a child as happy as I was on that day.  When I think of all of the ways people can help others, I think this one is the easiest.  It doesn't take time from your schedule, if you don't have any to give, and it doesn't cost anything but a haircut and some postage.  If you have the hair to give, I would encourage you to do it -- you'll be helping put a smile on a child's face AND you'll love your new 'do'!  www.locksoflove.org/donate.html