Days of Old

The days of long hair seem oh so far away. To most, something as aesthetic as hair may seem trivial. I think until one has a daughter, one will never know just how heartbreaking hair can be…
As Bunny is playing in the bathtub one night, I walk around the house tidying up. Imagine my shock as a routine night turns into a mother’s worst nightmare. As I go to throw something away in her room, I notice there are long, curly locks, neatly placed in Bun’s princess trashcan. I just stare for a minute. Seriously? Has this just happened? She’s just in the bathtub, acting completely normal, and I’m in here witnessing the evidence of this CRIME?!
“Kelly Shea! (That’s when she knows she’s in trouble) Did you do this?” As I show her the transparent evidence, she looks blankly at me and says,
“No.” Innocent. Right. So after I grill her for a couple minutes (hello? It’s RIGHT HERE!) she hesitantly admits, “Ok, I accidentally cut my hair; I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to.” I felt like saying, Ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking it, but that would only work with Mike and our sarcastic bantering sessions. So, resigning to the fact my beautiful daughter has just cut off her beautiful hair, I got out the scissors and evened out what I could. The next morning we went down to one of the two stores we have in town, and in fact the only one that cuts hair (venture a guess?), and got the whole thing taken care of-everything except my broken heart had now been mended.
Overreacting? You think so. YOU JUST WAIT! It took Kelly, like most girls, years to grow enough hair to even put in a hair band and it was GONE before I even knew it-literally! Her bathroom is filled with ribbons and bows- I even have a reel with spools of different colors so I can cut the perfect length of the perfect color for the perfect occasion. I take much pride in her hair. Maybe that’s my problem? So after some tears and me reassuring myself that it’s only hair and it will grow back, I started the process of healing. Just when I thought I had gotten over it, I looked through my camera and saw these last pictures of Kelly with long hair. Ironically, we had even straightened it that day so it looked longer than normal…it’s literally like a piece of my heart has been ripped out.
Kelly and her best friend, Haley, my baby's hair, and my happiness are pictured below: