One Week Away

Next week at this time, I will be bald. I will have gone to the Shave to Save luncheon at the Midland Theater and shared with everyone why I decided to participate as a shavee this year. My hair will have been cut off and donated to Locks of Love. Lawrence will have taken the first swipe with the razor and a professional will have shaved off the rest of my hair. One week from today, I will be bald.

As I count down the days that I have left with my hair, I have been thinking of some of the things that I will miss:

*being able to put my hair into a pony tail

*brushing my hair in the morning

*trying out different hair styles

*fixing my hair extra nice so that people pay attention to it and not my mid-section about which I don't feel too confident that particular day

*using my hair as a wig for Coralyn (it's a game she likes to play when I bend over to put the mouse in my hair and it hangs down...she comes underneath it and then it looks like my hair is her wig...lot of fun, lots of laughs)

Of course, there are some things I will not miss at all:

*feeling the knot that my hair has become by the end of the day

*brushing out the rat's nest that is a result of the knot

*spending money on shampoo

*finding loose hairs on the kitchen floor after I have already swept four times that day

*pulling my hair out of the vacuum sweeper when it gets clogged (oh the joyous memories from college when there were like 57 girls' hair caught in the floor vacuum cleaner...NOT!)

*not knowing what to do with my hair and feeling like it's a frizzy mop of a mess

*getting my hair caught behind my head when I lay down

*getting my hair caught in the car door

I can say that I will not miss these things, but I probably will once I don't have any hair and go to pull my hair out from my shirt or put a blob of shampoo in my hand out of habit.

Whatever the case may be, one week from today, I won't have any hair. Getting ready in the mornings will be a breeze. Showers will take less time, as the bulk of it is spent washing my hair. Then, I won't have to brush my hair or put any mouse in it to keep it from frizzing and turning into a scary monster or figure out how to wear it for the day. I can just throw on a bandana or opt for the bald shiny look. Every once in awhile, when I feel like dressing up, I can figure out how to wrap a scarf around my head.

As the day of the luncheon gets closer and the reality of being bald gets bigger and bigger, I am kind of nervous. On Thursday morning I will go the gym with hair. Friday morning I will be bald when I go to work out. What is everyone going to think, seeing as how I haven't really found a way to announce to everyone that I am shaving my head or explain why I am doing such a crazy thing. I wonder what people will think when they see me in the grocery store or at a restaurant. Should I make a T-shirt that says, "Yes, I'm bald. No, I don't have cancer. But I did volunteer to shave my head to raise money so that people with cancer could stay at the Hope Lodge in Kansas City for free while they receive treatments." Would people take the time to read it or would they just look at me funny? My biggest concern is how Coralyn is going to respond. I certainly don't want her to be scared of her mama! She is going to be at the luncheon though and see the whole thing, so hopefully she still recognizes me! I am her mama after all! :)

Whatever the case may be, one week from today I will be bald. I have no idea what that is going to look like or feel like. I just pray that somehow God uses my bald head to bring people to Jesus in ways that my red hair never could. Maybe I could write Bible verses on my bald head. I am sure that would cause some interesting reactions! Or I could go so far as to get a tatoo (don't worry, Mom, I'm just kidding!). But once my hair grows back, it wouldn't be nearly as affective. Guess I will pass on that idea. :)