Making the Cut

I was sitting on the living room floor watching You've Got Mail when I was suddenly inspired. I saw Meg Ryan's short, bouncy blond hair, and I said to myself, it's time. 

I was also inspired on thanksgiving day because of that dog show that comes on after the Macy's day parade. Just a few days before thanksgiving, I was out and about with my mom when I saw my hair in the reflection of the car windows. Some days, curly hair just does weird things. On this day, my kinks were falling over my shoulders in just the right way that I immediately thought about those things you see on the Internet of people who look like their dogs. "I'm look just like a cocker spaniel!" I said to my mom, and she laughed so hard that she couldn't even say, "Of course not, you look fine, honey." Because that wasn't what she was thinking anyway. I really did look like a cocker spaniel, and we both ended up laughed so hard that we couldn't get a hold of ourselves before going into the next store. 

So when I saw that little cocker spaniel bounce across the national dog show platform, I thought about Meg Ryan and decided it was time. 

I make it sound like it was a spur of the moment idea, by really I have been growing my hair out all year just for this moment. One of my fantastic friends who has an amazing side-talent for cutting hair came over to do the honors. 

I may not look like Meg Ryan, but at least the cocker spaniel is gone! I bundled my little 9 inch ponytails up and headed right to the post office the next morning. 

"Do you have any knives, weapons, firearms, or anything potentially hazardous in this package?" the mail guy asked me. 

"Nope, it's just my hair," I replied. 

He went on with his typing business for just a second like he hadn't heard what I said and then looked up at me sharply and said, "You're hair?" 

"Yes, sir. I am donating it. Have you heard of that?" When he said he hadn't, I continued to explain. "Pantene beautiful lengths program makes high quality wigs out of real, donated hair, and they give the wigs to people who have lost their hair from cancer." 

He thought it was a trap to steal my DNA and clone me, but I told him it was worth the risk. 

I just know that I would want nice hair if I had lost all my hair from cancer, plus there's nothing better to do with a whole bunch of extra hair than give it all away. 

I want to be entirely open-handed when it comes to giving. Always willing to give whatever money I have in my wallet, whatever food I have in the fridge, whatever something I have that might bless somebody else. And even the hair off my own head.