Hair-Shedding Party

I decided last minute to get daring and make a big party out of losing my hair.  At first I thought I would just have family and a couple of friends but the more I thought about it I thought it would be neat to open it to the public more and allow anyone I know to come and show their support as well as help break the ice to the awkwardness of losing my hair.  I was really excited about this until I made the mistake of washing my hair two hours before the party.  I was shedding hair pretty bad but thought if I was careful enough that I could wash and dry it so it would be clean for the party.  This was a VERY bad idea as I lost a quarter of my hair in the shower and another quarter while blowdrying it.  I began to get panicked and starting crying to Kelly wondering if I should just cancel the party due to all the bald spots that I didn't want revealed when we did the buzz at the end.  Luckily Kelly and my good friend talked me through it and said we can just do all the hairstyles/cuts while everyone was there and then save the buzz for later.  So I said a prayer and got the courage to go through with the party.  I'm so glad I did as it was one of the most beautiful experiences I've had.  Everyone brought food and jokes and we began with our family taking the first snips.  Each person would come up and tell a funny joke and then cut a big chunk of my hair.  Who knew that letting people chop off my hair could be so fun!!

 After Kelly, my mom, Haela and Salem (the boys had friends and were too distracted) took their chunks then each adult at the party got their turn to take a snip.  We all laughed and the jokes helped break all the ice of nervousness and discomfort.

 After all took a chunk then my awesome hairstylist, Liz, went to work with four different cuts and styles.  First she did a bob and everyone oohed and ahhed over that one.  Next was the awesome Miley Cyrus cut that I told everyone I was going to do.  Following that I got the spikey sassafras look which I modeled and had a lot of fun with.  To finish it off we did the awaited mohawk that surprisinly looked pretty cute.  Liz was so great to entertain us all in such a way.  Now I have so many styles to choose from when my hair grows back!

Everyone gave me hugs and we all laughed and ate together.  All in the room were radiating light and love as they were able to come and support me during this big step.  As each person left they hugged me and expressed their gratitude for being able to come and be a part of something so life-changing.  I was amazed at how touched they all were.  That is when I felt a confirmation that making a huge party was the right thing to do in my situation.  The Lord wanted to give more people an opportunity to feel they were helping me in some way and it in turn filled us all with his gracious light and love. 

 After the last person left and it was time to do the hard part of shaving it to the scalp I felt great courage because of being so filled from the party.  Liz kept telling me as she was shedding the very last of my hair that of all the cancer patients hair she has shaved that this experience was the most happy and beautiful.  She said she noticed everyone in the room filled with joy as they witnessed God's hand helping me as well as them turn a difficult thing into a positive experience.  It was a night never to be forgotten.