Hair!
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month which for Artistic Hair in Orange, CA means it’s time for their annual fund raiser. They offer wash-and-cut hair cuts for $15 a pop with ALL the money, even tips, going to breast cancer research. The Boy enjoyed the hair washing and Little No Limit appeared quite smug with her snazzy sea-themed cape:
While I was with the stylist, I asked her why they do the fund raiser and learned that the salon had lost of their employees to breast cancer several years ago. In the middle of my hair cut, an older woman patted my stylist on the shoulder and said good-bye. The woman looked pleased, but tired. She made quick small talk with my stylist, hugged her, and left. When the stylist returned to my hair, she mentioned that the woman was the mother of the aforementioned employee. It struck right then, how it might feel to lose my own daughter, how it would feel to walk into my daughter’s former place of employment, where, years after her death, they continue to celebrate the life that she had, and support the possibilities for other women like her to continue theirs.
Everybody has their cancer story, whether a personal battle or that of a friend or that of a friend’s friend. There is something very communal about the battle with cancer. Everyone gets involved.
I haven’t really done much for breast cancer awareness month. I’d been wanting to write this post all month, with a list of things one could do to foster awareness, support causes for the cure. There is, of course, the obvious option of making a monetary donation. But with the economy as it is, everyone has pretty light wallets right now. There’s the click to give free mammograms site. It must be doing pretty well because the last few times I tried to click on it, the site was too busy for me to get through. There are scads of breast cancer products, like Kitchen Aid’s Cook for the Cure line (if you choose to buy make-up whose proceeds benefit breast cancer, make sure you’re buying safe make-up). There are walking/running fundraisers.
As for me, I made a donation. And when I attended the Artistic Hair fund raiser, I got more than a little hair trim. It was more to the tune of 14 inches.
Locks of Love is not a breast cancer-specific organization, but what it does is provide real hair wigs to children who have lost their hair from a long-term medical issue.
I showed up at Artistic Hair, ready to part with my locks. This probably doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but the truth is, I’m rather fond of my long hair. I’m much more obliging with my money and time, but my hair? Tell me, though, can you really look at these pictures and think to yourself, nah, I’d rather keep my hair? I couldn’t.
Before:
After:
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That’s a wonderful haircut and it’s a GREAT cause. The Girl donated her super-long hair to it a few summers back!
LOVE the new look! And what a great cause.
A close friend of mine just lost her daughter, and I can not even imagine the pain. This was a really good post for a really important topic. Thanks.
We just buried my close friend and next-door neighbor Rosie on Saturday. She fought the good fight for nearly two years, but in the end her breast cancer metastasized everywhere. Her husband and six-year-old twins survived her. Thanks for this post.
What a fabulous post!! We just had another scan on Bid D, and everything is clear!!
Love the new look too.
Hey, you look great! I am just starting to grow my hair out long again. (I’ve donated to Locks of Love twice before.) And I also just clicked to the breast cancer site. The daily email from them will prompt me to click and click again. Thanks for the referral.
What a wonderful and unselfish act! Plus, you new do looks fabulous! You’re the best Jess!
Your new coif looks adorable.
Great ideas, thanks. As you said, everyone’s got their breast cancer stories. I know so many women who have been diagnosed; some who haven’t made it, one who is back in chemo now for the third time. Ugh.
I don’t know what I thought I’d see when I clicked on a post called “Hair!” but I did NOT expect to see your hair cut. It looks great, but more importantly, it was for such a great cause. My life, thus far, has been remarkably untouched by cancer. I’ve had one friend who had breast cancer over 10 years ago. It was quite serious but she lived in another country and she is fine now, so the impact isn’t the same. Aneurysms are another story… and heart disease… I’ve experienced plenty of those. Still, I know it really is just a matter of time. There’s no point in waiting to be aware and to help out.
I teared up reading the part about the lady losing her daughter…
That is a really cute haircut!
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