Bidding ADIEU to my tresses!

:::::UPDATE:::::

BEFORE

AFTER

One of the first things people notice about me when they see me is that I've got wild, curly, red hair. Women have always asked me, "Where did you get your beautiful hair?" As a child, I thought this was an odd question. I GREW IT, DUH! Later, I realized they may have been asking for 2 reasons.

1. I'm a fair-skinned redhead. My mom and brother have dark hair and loves their dark tans.  My dad had brown hair at some point - though it's been salt'n'pepper, and now just salt for as long as I can remember - and has fairer skin, but he can get pretty good tan in the summer. He does (or did), however, grow a mean RED BEARD and MUSTACHE!
2. They wished they had my hair because the grass is always greener and the hair is always more fun on the other side. Often the follow-up question was, "Do you know how much people pay to 'get' hair like yours?" I didn't know why people would want my crazy hair, but I realize now that it's pretty special to be a redhead.

Now that I'm an adult, I'll admit that I love my hair.  It's crazy and curly, and red, and auburn, and orange (if you ask my students).  Right now, it's VERY long.  While I love it and appreciate it, it can also be quite a nuisance! Especially as we enter jacket and zipper season.  My hair gets stuck in EVERYTHING (zippers, necklaces, earrings, buttons, sequins) and often I need to rip it free. Lately, I have difficulty getting my fingers through it!  If I can manage to untangle it, my arms aren't long enough to pull through all the way to the tips.

SO... it's time to chop it off.  This will be my 3rd major chop in the last 6 years. I rarely cut my hair, but when I do, it's a big change.  I'm planning to cut it pretty short.  While the idea of some birds making a pretty sweet golden, red nest with my hair is pretty sweet, I think it could be better used somewhere else. I've decided to donate my hair to PANTENE BEAUTIFUL LENGTHS, a program that creates free wigs for women who have lost their own hair during their fights with cancer. You can read all about the program HERE!

DID YOU KNOW... it takes 8-15 ponytails to produce one wig?!  With this being my 3rd time donating my hair, I will have helped created about 1/5-3/8 of one wig. I'm really proud of this!

The next time someone asks a redhead, "Where did you that beautiful red hair?" maybe she will answer, "I got my hair from M.J.!"