May 2004 with Courtney, Grandma
Q: What is it about hair that is so fascinating?
A: I've had bad hair days which required a hat of some variety or bed head or a frizzy head like when you get out of the pool and just let your hair dry au natural. I've had the ever popular bowl cut (ala 70's) from when I was a kid, "Thanks Mom", I wore my hair with the part in the middle (ala 80's), and I pretty much cut it all off with my brother one day back in 1990 with some sheers and it's been short ever since with no desire to have it any other way. I believe during the morphing of the hair it may have experienced highlights either through the sun, peroxide, or a slight frosting of the tips just to see what it would look like but nothing ever "crazy". So why do we spend so much time with our hair? Perhaps it's the one thing we can change about ourselves that's speaks volumes without speaking a word.
Place Holder for Pic of Chris and Me
Q: Why do we assume that because someone has short or long hair that they act or talk in a particular way?
A: Stereotypes? What do you think of when you see someone with short hair, long hair, no hair, oddly colored hair, unusually shaped hair? Appropriate comments if you choose, please.
October 2011 with the Family
A: Is it genetics? Playing with matches? Alopecia areata? Disease?
Q: Is it different if you lose your hair when your young versus when your older?
A: First I guess we should speak to chronological age versus biological age. Some people are quite young yet look older, whereas, some are older and look quite young. Chronological age can't be changed. It's just the passage of time and there's nothing you or I can do about it. Biological age can be affected. How does having hair or not change a persons perceived age of an individual? Do people with hair that are 40, 50, 60 appear younger merely because they have hair? What about my friend from high school who shortly after graduating high school lost what can only be described as a bush (that was actually his nickname) and is now bald. Mind you he shaves his head because he wasn't completely bald but he felt it just looked better. Ah vanity.
Q: So what's the point?
A: I know people who are young and are bald. I know people who are old and have a full head of hair. I know people who've had disease (cancer) and lost their hair due to the treatment. For some the treatment has allowed them to continue to live. For others, they weren't as fortunate.
There have been two people in my life that have died from cancer that I would consider close for very different reasons. The first was a beautiful young women, named Monica who had recently married and was working and having fun, after all she was only 22 years old. One day she wasn't feeling well. She was getting winded (short of breath) after the simplest of tasks. So she went to the doctor. The result of her visit were many tests and the conclusion that she had leukemia. Holy schnikes!! What to do? Well, she went through the treatments and lost all her hair and had a bone marrow transplant from her perfect donor sister and the result was, unfortunately that 11 months after she was diagnosed she was gone. I remember vividly what I was doing on that day and I remember vividly watching her take her last breath right before my eyes. During the 11 months in and out of hospitals she was able to lead a semi normal life and the one thing that made her feel just a little better about herself was the wig(s) that she was able to wear. I never thought much about it then.
Fast forward 20 years and I meet a man who wasn't 22, he was 52. Always smiling and helpful and just down right friendly like he was a young 22 year old. No worries in this mans life except whether one of his many clients would PR. Did I mention he was an ultra-marathoner? Just your typical 50 and 100 mile running events. Training runs were local marathons. Just what every other 52 year old male is doing, right? Then one day in September he's not feeling 100% so he goes to the doctor. Doctor says, "looks like pneumonia", take this medication and lets go from there. He takes the medication the doctor gives him but he's not getting better. So he goes back to the doctor and this time he/she is perhaps a little more thorough and they diagnose him with cancer. This was the first week of October 2010. Four weeks later he was gone. He didn't get the same chance to receive treatment, lose his hair, feel some hope. He lived right up until he was gone.
Coach Mike in June of 2010 four months before he passed away
QQ: So what's the point again?
AA: Don't ever assume you know someone or someones situation just by looking at them whether that person has long hair, short hair, no hair, or just ran 100 miles. Mike was sick and no one new it, not even him. Sometimes people do extra-ordinary things. I often wonder what people think about the hair I now don. Do they look at me differently because my hair is long versus short? Working in a professional environment with Executives do they look at me as less than professional? Shortly after my friend passed from this life to the next I decided I was going to do something bigger than myself. Now mind you I'm not donating a kidney but I am doing something that people can see everyday and sometimes that's tougher than one might think. I decided that I was going to let my hair grow to a necessary 10 inches long (http://www.locksoflove.org/) and donate my hair so that people who have lost their hair can feel a little better about themselves while going through this terrible disease. For those that didn't have a chance for hope, this is for you as well. Mike was only a part of my life as a coach and only for a brief period, yet I feel like he's been my friend for years. How many people can touch someone's life like that? All of your friends and family miss you Coach Mike.
