Locks of Love

I must confess that I am the one that probably stalled letting DD7, H-Bob, get her hair cut. DD19 and DD15 have lost their long tresses over the past year and have returned from the stylist with lovely layered styles. No one has opted for anything above the shoulders but still have departed from their childhood, waist-length hair.



There was a time when I wanted H-Bob to whack all of her hair off as we struggled to keep it tangle free, especially during the time frame when she wore her cow-print, hooded pajamas to bed. Tossing about all night with long hair stuff inside and rubbing against polar fleece was a disaster in the making. Mornings were a nightmare. No amount of leave-in conditioner or detangler would spare H-Bob from tears. We moved on beyond that and resorted to the nightly braiding of her hair. I was happy...and she still looked like my little, long-haired country girl.

But alas, all things change. H-Bob began to wish herself for a shorter hair length, but of course I wasn't too keen on that idea any more. Why not keep her long flowing hair? When a friend of CamoQueen's heard that H-Bob had suggested that she too get her hair cut as her sisters had done, she suggested that she donate her length of hair to Locks of Love. I had heard of Locks of Love but had never really researched what the organization did. Here is a direct quote from the website. They are really quite the organization.

WHAT IS LOCKS OF LOVE?

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.

Yep, that was the ticket that justified it all to me. For the good of others, I would gladly let H-Bob lose her hair. We checked in as to the requirements and found that a ponytail ten inches long was needed. Measuring her hair at home, we realized that she still had a little ways to go. We were able to convince H-Bob to wait it out...while I secretly wondered if the sudden notion to get her hair cut would go away.

But after the course of several months, her desire was stronger than ever. After one especially trying morning when she got pancake syrup stuck in her hair, we decided it was time. So off to the local walk-in SuperCuts we went. They confirmed she had plenty of hair to donate, bundled it in a ponytail at shoulder length, braided the remainder and banded it at the bottom. Then came out the shears as they literally had to hack their way through her hair above the first band.



Off it came. It was a little disconcerting to see it laying there on the table, but the deed was done. Working with the remaining hair, the stylist suggested an A-line cut with layers in the back to disguise the jagged lines remaining from the original cuts.



H-Bob sat in that chair and grinned from ear to ear repeating over and over again how excited she was. Her enthusiasm for her new look made all the difference in the way I felt. If she loved it, so would I. We have since remarked that the style fits her carefree personality and shows off her sun-bleached hair beautifully. As for me, I'm glad we were able to do our part and help others less fortunate than ourselves. Perhaps H-Bob will let her hair grow out and repeat the process. Until then however, her new-found freedom in her new style simply makes me smile everytime I see her.