On My Own Terms

When I went in for my second AC treatment, the nurses commented on how beautiful and lush my hair was, 14 days past first treatment.  Apparently, hair tends to fall out within the first 10-14 days.  The nurses cautioned me that my hair would start falling out soon.

It didn't take long for me to realize the truth of their prediction.

When I woke this morning, I discovered more hair on my pillow than usual.  I wasn't terribly alarmed - I knew it would start coming out, but still, it didn't seem like that much.  I went into the bathroom where the light is much brighter, and ran my hair through my head - and out came about 25 hairs.  I grabbed a small section at the back of my head - and it came out.  It didn't hurt, it was just suddenly there, in my hair.  I started to panic a little, and pulled on some hair on the front of my head - and out it fell.  In the sink are a hundred or so hairs, and I stare in the mirror, suddenly horrified. 

My hair is taking its leave.

So I slap on a hat, get ready for work, and like a pregnant woman whose water has just broken, I announce simply to my husband, "Honey, it's time."  And like a good partner who has been waiting for this very moment for weeks, he knows what to do - he buys a new pair of clippers.

After work, we light the fire and light some candles, and set up a small salon in the living room.  My son Michael offers to be our supportive and gentle Official Buzz Cut Paparazzi.  I can see now that my hair really was thinning, in ways I probably wasn't terribly aware.  Oh, and here's my awesome Personal Barber, aka my best friend and partner, Ken:

 

Apparently, what little is left on my head is (as always) thicker than I realize.  We have to make two passes with the clippers:

Kisses on the forehead leave a little hair in the mouth, but they're totally worth it:

 

I have plenty of cool new scarfs to rock, as well as the hats I've been collecting along the way:

All in all - it was a truly a good and blessed evening.