a letter to my hair

{preface: 1. this was originally written may 15th...the day it happened! 2. there are approximately a billion photos of me in this post. i'm feeling sheepish posting so many of them, but zach is getting good with the camera and i wanted to take photos of my hair before i did anything. they turned out really well (thanks zachary!) and i have fun editing stuff that wasn't client-related. as i explained my hesitation of posting them to jeff, he said, "we photogs don't get to be in the front very often so, yeah, i totally get your excitement." i know a bunch of you requested photos, so here they are. forgive me this one time for the excess. maybe it makes up for my current lack of NY pictures...heh.}

dear long hair,

we've been great pals for years now. in fact, i haven't cut you since 7th grade (when i let that lady who didn't speak english...bless her heart...cut you...i've never let any shears get you past my shoulder since). i've loved you and cared for you.

i like you in ponytails, pigtails, straight, curly, and wavy. up, down, this-and-that...those days you make me look like rapunzel (thanks, sara =D). it's especially fun to flip you around or feel you blow in the wind (especially while i run or in the car with windows down!). we've had good times.

before i knew it, you grew to be about 28 inches. however, you were kind of heavy (no offense, hair, i know you take pride in being thick) and i'd get headaches. i got super busy and i didn't get to trim you often or make you super pretty. although when i did, i loved doing it.

i talked about cutting you for a long while, but people kept talking me out of it. pretty soon, no one took me seriously about cutting you. but that was okay.

i had heard about locks of love. i found out that they take donated hair and make wigs out of it, specifically for children 18 and under, who don't have any hair due to disease and other health-related problems. it says, i saw the before/after photos of the recipients of the kids. it says,

 "The children who receive these hairpieces have lost more than their hair; they suffer from a loss of self. Many children have been teased by classmates and/or embarrassed by the attention they receive because of their hair loss. They often will withdraw from normal childhood activities such as swimming, going to the mall or even playing with their friends. While wearing a hairpiece is certainly not a cure for these children, it can help restore some of the normalcy to their everyday lives that most of us take for granted." (via here.)

with my new york trip coming up, i didn't want to have to worry about you in the mornings, and felt this was a very worthy cause. so, i decided that i'd do it. i know that it was scary for us both, but i think we were excited.

...

so, hair, i gave zach the camera (so thank him for the great photos!) and was expecting a before/after shot. but he decided to document the entire process! so here's how it went down, in picture form:

1-- i wouldn't have just trusted anyone to cut you this dramatically. so i got natalie. she. was. amazing.

2-- so, hair, with locks of love, you need to be a ponytail or a braid, so she just cut that off first.

3-- halfway through cutting, she had to get a bigger or sharper pair of scissors because you were so thick. that made me happy...you should be proud. :)

5-6 -- between these, i walked to the sink and could not believe how much lighter my head felt!! it was incredible!

7--  natalie was so great. about three times, she gladly cut the entire length of my hair shorter upon my request. (if anyone is thinking of cutting their hair, they should talk to me and i'll recommend her. she even gave me a two-week policy where i could go back and have her fix anything i didn't like. for awesome!)

11-12 --  she then styled it and taught me fun tips and tricks on styling techniques. these photos don't even show how high she got my you, hair...i looked like jon bon jovi. rock on.

i really wish these photos blew up more; they're great shots.

*author's note: there are many more 'before' photos than there are 'afters'. i figure that because it's what i look like now, so 'after' is now 'current' and ... yeah. you get the idea. (?)

...
and here are the official "after" shots (see above note). in addition to that note, i didn't really have time to take after photos- i cut this just days before my trip to new york. i didn't tell a lot of people previously to cutting you, just so i wouldn't get talked out of it and to add a fun surprise element to seeing friends before i head(ed) to NY. i'm sure you understand.

so. thanks, long hair, for willing to be donated. i'm sure you'll make some little child very happy! and i'll see you again, i'm sure. short hair is pretty fun, but i'm blessed to have the option.

sincerely,

*kristin
(you know. the person that was underneath you all those years)