Today my girls are having their heads shaved. Not just donating hair to locks of love and getting a shorter do…but actually having their heads completely shaved. It’s remarkable because honestly, my girls have about the most beautiful head of hair you can possibly imagine, curly, thick, beautiful color, etc. And it’s LONG for both of them.
Lauren has wanted to do this since her freshman year. She is now a senior. She’s had time to change her mind if she wanted and has considered it a time or two…but always come back to her desire to do it. Lydia decided to join in with her sister this summer while they were apart. Which does not surprise me one iota. Lydia and Lauren are like peas and carrots :).
It’s been interesting for me to see the reactions of people around them. Some people are really fearful people I guess. And fearful people tend to project fear onto others.
1. Hair grows back.
2. This is temporary
3. Beauty is far more than a head of hair.
It hurts my heart when I see fearful people engage with my girls. It’s bad juju…but maybe this is a lesson that’s good for them to learn young. There will always be people who when you choose to do something radical or different want to keep you in the status quo. I’ve experienced it over and over. People get scared if anybody steps out of the uniformity of life in anyway. We are taught from a very young age to conform or be laughed at.
I say…freakin LIVE, nothing held back and I don’t care what it looks like. Far too many people walking around on this earth just going through the motions and not really living and probably don’t even realize there is SO. Much. MORE!
There have also been people who have expressed incredibly pride and support for my girls. They GET IT. My girls lost their dad to cancer. At ages 8 and 9 they said goodbye forever on this earth to their dad because of stinking cancer. Why wouldn’t they want to fight the disease in some way…some actual useful way?! They are doing this in memory of their dad. In honor of their dad. And for a 15 and a 17 year old teenage girl to be willing to ‘risk’ beauty to instead stand against something so much bigger than them is nothing short of stellar in my opinion.
I am incredibly proud of them. So…today I will go and video and photograph them having their hair cut off and honestly…I’m prepared for a few tears and if there need to be tears…let ’em come. At least they are living free and alive, life on their own terms.
I am getting married in 3 weeks and yes our pictures will be different without their hair…but this doesn’t bother me a bit. I’ve always told my girls they are beautiful inside and out and I have a feeling the loss of hair will just highlight their beauty, not take away from it.
So many people just don’t get it. So many people would rather criticize, judge and say things that are not helpful. So many people live in fear and worry. I do from time to time and I can tell you…it sucks when you live there.
Please…today…and tomorrow and for the next 6 months or so…support my girls and speak of beauty that goes far beyond a head of hair. Please. We are so much bigger and better and grander and made for more than we give ourselves credit for.
Today my girls are living large. They are choosing to do what some guys chose to do at church back when my husband started chemo. They all shaved their heads in solidarity with him…even as adults! My girls are standing in today to walk alongside kids who have cancer. I know they’ll get some strange looks in the next few months…but honestly…maybe we all need to get an idea of how that kind of thing feels anyway.
Ultimately…I know this whole deal will cause them to be more compassionate women.
Hair grows back. Compassion…can be hard to come by.
Lauren and Lydia Jackson…today I’m going on record that I am not one iota afraid or worried for you. Your beauty will shine through. I am incredibly proud to be your mom and so proud of what you are choosing to do today. You’ve just added $640 plus to the pot for cancer research for kids…that’s outstanding!
Embrace The Day 