day 25: chopped.

I chopped my hair off.

Here it was before I went in:

And the front, kind of. My husband took this on the plane in July when we came out house hunting. I avoid pictures of myself as much as possible, so this post is already feeling a few degrees uncomfortable for me.

Last year, my girls and I decided to do Pantene Beautiful Lengths. They had done Locks of Love, but some of you had recommended the Pantene program, so we checked it out and decided to contribute to it this time. Lauren and Hailey both decided they like their long hair for the moment and bailed on me, but I am not a long hair girl as I get older (it’s usually up in a ponytail or bun and I don’t know what to do with it) so I was itching to get on with it.

Here it is now (best I could get with my camera phone!)

and the sides from the medicine cabinet:

When we lived in Texas, I would go to the cancer center for appointments and follow-ups (more on that here) and would be surrounded by beautiful women without any hair and be reminded of how blessed I was to be walking out with my hair, my energy, and my life.

A sweet older lady sat next to me one day and touched my hair and asked if it was natural (it is!) Normally, that would be very uncomfortable for me, like strangers coming up and touching your stomach during pregnancy, but I was okay with her~she was so sincere. She told me that it would help make a lovely wig for a cancer survivor. It’s always stuck with me, I’ve always meant to, so here is my little contribution to strong girls and women battling disease and heartache every day.

It’s a reminder to me of what a blessing it is to wake up every morning to my husband and kids, to brush my hair, and go about the messy, beautiful routine of every day life.