Locks of Love Donation … And I’m Nervous (Before and After Pictures)

It took about twelve to fifteen months to get it this long from almost nothing (normally, my hair is extremely short). Now, it's about to get cut off for charity ... I hope it goes well.

Over the past year, I have grown my hair out to donate it to a charity called Locks of Love that creates custom-tailored hair pieces for children suffering from cancer (and the unfortunate side-effect of baldness, which comes from full-scale chemotherapy and radiation treatment).  They aren’t wigs – they will actually fit each child’s head and no one can tell the difference – they can even swim without a problem. That is one of the reasons they need hair donations because the costs are high for each piece.

Some people I knew in college made a Locks of Love donation and I thought it was such a great cause, and meant something more than just writing another check.  Today, that part of the journey ends and I’m going to have the hair cut off and return to my normal, cropped preppy cut a la a Brooks Brothers catalog that I’ve had for most of my twenties.

The side shot of the long hair before I get it cut off for Locks of Love.

Long hair is way, way too much maintenance.  I don’t know how most people do it.  I’m excited about going back short, again, but at the same time, you all know I tend to maintain stability so such a drastic move is not without apprehension.   In fact, I’m a little nervous and I can’t explain why!  Still, I wouldn’t be myself if it were any other way and I won’t back out now.  Locks of love needs the hair and I don’t want the work, anymore.

Here are the final pictures in the hours before it is almost all removed … I will try and post some of the after-shots when we are finished.  God bless my stylist, Angela, who rearranged her day to get me in within only a few hours’ notice.

Anyway … wish me luck.

UPDATE – The After

It's done. I look much younger, but it feels good to have the hair cut off completely. My dad joked that yesterday, if I went to a meeting, no one would have thought anything of the 30-year-old walking into the room. Today, however, they'd ask where my father was. It's an interesting contrast.

It’s done!  About 50% of the people in my life are upset my hair is short and the other 50% say something along the lines of, “Thank God!  You look so much younger and clean cut.”

The final hair before it is sent off to Locks of Love ...

I’m torn between the two because I love having my hair short but I’m not big on change – until Aaron pointed out that I can simply pull an Orlando Bloom and get extensions like in Lord of the Rings if I wake up two years from now and want long hair again.  He’s right.

I have to get some work done on one of the sites because we are having salmon with some sort of fresh bruschetta tonight for dinner.

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