Audrey's Locks of Love

It would be difficult to find someone who hasn't felt the pain of cancer in one way or another. Tom lost his father to cancer. I lost my dear girlfriend to cancer. My mother has fought breast cancer...twice. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents, Friends...we've all felt the fear, sadness, anger and more.

Some time ago, I heard about a program called "Locks of Love". This program accepts donations of hair to make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer or other serious illness. Audrey mentioned to me that she would like to cut her hair short and I told her about the Locks of Love program. She immediately wanted to donate. In order to donate however, hair must be in a ponytail that is at least 10" long. This took some time...and patience for a four-year-old. But the day finally came. As I was filling out the form, Audrey asked me to write a note. She asked that I please specify that she would like to give her hair to a little girl like her who "has no hair at all."

The day of the big event, I made an appointment at a fancy children's hair salon. I figured I would pay a little extra to make the memory more special. But, after a small food allergy fiasco at a local bakery, we arrived 5 minutes late for our appointment. The woman at the front desk told us that she would not keep our appointment. We were so sad!

So, we loaded everyone back into the car and began to drive home. As I drove, I thought, "We are not fancy people. We are just your average, hard-working family and we should go to our regular average, hard-working hair dresser to have the cut done." So, we drove to our Great Clips and walked in. I told the front desk that our daughter wanted her hair cut for Locks of Love. The woman told us that the haircut would be FREE, then she knelt down by Audrey and told her how very proud she was of her and told her that she had lost her father to cancer this year. It was such a beautiful moment and I know that Audrey will never forget the feeling she felt looking in her hairdresser's eyes. I immediately thanked God for letting the "fancy" appointment fall through. God had surely allowed us to walk into our hair salon and experience this special time with a very special hair dresser. Here are the photos from the experience. I'm so proud of my baby girl.