September 8, 2012: One Interesting Thing - Wigs For Kids

Last night, my daughter got her hair cut. Now, that may not seem like too big a thing. I mean, I get my hair cut about every six weeks or so. But for her, it was a big thing. A very big thing. She's been growing her hair since she was a baby. Never had it cut really. Just straightened a little bit by our hairdresser now and then, but never actually cut. She's 8 now, and a while ago she came up with her own idea. She wanted to have it cut off, and she wanted to donate it to an organization called "Wigs For Kids." We told her that since she's 8, she was old enough to make her own decision about her own hair, and this was her decision. She held to it steadfastly. Indeed, once the appointment was made, she became more and more excited about it, and now - it's done. When I saw her this morning, I barely recognized her. (OK. I recognized her. I just pretended not to.) Our hairdresser measured her hair as 23 inches from root to tip, and when all was said and done, she managed to get 12 inches of hair to donate. That's amazing. Wigs for Kids makes wigs and other hair replacement products for "children who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, Alopecia, Trichotillomania, burns and other medical issues at no cost to children or their families." It's a worthy organization. It was started by a man named Jeffrey Paul in 1981 after his niece was diagnosed with leukemia. Each wig is made from about 150000 individual strands of hair. My daughter's 12 inches of hair should go a long way in that direction! I'm very proud of her for deciding that she wanted to do something to help other children. I think her poppa (my wife's father) would be even more proud of her for wanting to help children - some of whom have cancer. He died of cancer a year and a half ago. He loved her dearly and was loving watching her grow up. I'm a person of faith. I believe that life doesn't end with death, so I hope that, somehow and somewhere, he knows what she's done. If he does, he's smiling down at her! And if there's any way you can help Wigs For Kids, I hope you will:

http://www.wigs4kids.biz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=128