After the wedding I'd grown attached to it and kept growing it. I'd heard about organizations like Locks of Love and considered donating it as some point—but then a one night last summer, while I was surfing YouTube for videos of my favorite band (the Avett Brothers, of course) I came across this video and I was inspired:
This was the first time I'd heard of Wigs for Kids. I did a little research and what I learned made me sure Wigs for Kids was the charity I wanted to give my hair to. They work with salons around the country to give kids who suffer from hair loss (do to cancer treatment or conditions like alopecia) wigs, hairpieces, or hair prosthetics—whatever they need—completely free of charge. Amazing!
The only problem was Wigs for Kids requires more hair for donation than other charities—12 inches, which is 2 inches more than Locks of Love. So I'd have to stick it out longer. Last summer, when I decided to donate to Wigs for Kids, I had about 6 inches in length. Thirteen month later, and almost all of the way through this wickedly hot summer, I finally had enough hair to make the donation. Hooray!
Here's a few pictures of the big day:
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| During |
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| After! |
I have to say, it was much more emotional to part with my hair than I thought it would be. I'm more of a short hair kind of a gal, but I guess I'd become attached. It was part of me, I suppose. But it was also a relief to get rid of it—I felt like I was myself again. And it was exhilarating to know that I was doing something that would help some child somewhere rebuild their self esteem. What a crazy mix of emotions. But well worth it. In fact, I've just decided, I'm going to do it again. And I invite you to join me...in fact, I challenge you to join me. If you're game, let me know...maybe we can get a fundraiser event in the works.
Thanks to Wigs for Kids for the great work you're doing and thanks to the Avett Brothers and Crackerfarm for inspiring me.
