By Aideé Granados
A few days ago I had received the news that I had cancer and would start chemotherapy immediately. Of course, one is never prepared for this kind of news. However, I tried to "prepare" as much as possible. And one of the steps I had to take was to cut my hair.
His hair was neither very long nor very short. But long enough to make me a ponytail or a medium braid. I had never cut my hair as a "man". For me, doing this was "one more step" to prepare for chemo. Although it made me nervous, it was something "minimal" compared to other steps that would come along the way. I was ready.
When I got to the salon I explained to the lady that I wanted to cut my hair as small as a man. I told him about my treatments and that I did not want my hair to start to fall out as it was long (I thought it would be better to keep it short, more practical when it was completely lost and less painful).
The lady listened to me with total patience. The lady could have grabbed the electric razor, and cut my hair with a decent "number", just to avoid looking like I just got out of jail. Finally, after 2 weeks, I was going to lose EVERYTHING. There was going to be no more hair on my head.
Instead, however, he took out magazines and pictures of very pretty artists with short hair. And she was telling me which haircut she thought would suit me best with my face and features. And with my type of hair. We picked Halle Berry. And he spent more than an hour cutting my hair to see me as this actress.
I went for a vile haircut ... and came out as a model (just when I most needed to strengthen my spirit!). This young lady knew how to give me what I really wanted: a moment of joy, security, looking pretty, looking good, feeling good.
The shock of going from my long hair to short was not as traumatic as I thought. In fact, I liked it! So much so that today I continue with a short haircut ... And so I'll stay for a while.
