What's 10 Inches?

Before

After

We finally did it!

We donated our hair to Locks of Love. This has been over a year in the making and last Friday was the big day! My SIL, the girls' Aunt A cut our hair for us. Here's what got it all started...

One day when we were out for a walk we passed a family, the kids were all smiling and saying hello to all of them, it was a heartwarming moment to watch my children be so sweet. In the back of the group the father was pushing a wheelchair with their daughter who was disabled. Her head was propped up, she was looking to the sky with a smile on her face. My children stopped smiling and just stared. They weren't walking anymore and as the father passed by their eyes followed the wheelchair. I know this is a normal response for young children who are curious, but at that moment my heart sank. I realized that I have not been teaching my children enough about other people's lives. As I shooed them down the sidewalk, we stopped in the grass and sat. We talked about that little girl in the wheelchair. We talked about manners and staring. We talked about being thankful for our health. It was a pretty indepth conversation full of questions, some that I didn't have the answers to. That night at dinner we went around the table and we each said something that we were thankful for. The responses were heartbreaking.

After we ate, I opened up the newspaper to check a time for something and I saw a picture of a little girl who had donated her hair to Locks of Love. Perfect! This was a great opportunity to teach the kids. I showed them the picture, explained why she would cut her hair to give it to someone else? What was a wig? Why some kids have to wear wigs? Why they have to take medicines that help them, but make them sick? Sat dumbfounded searching for a response when asked why God would allow these children to get sick? The questions were tough, but they were learning, I was learning. After talking for awhile, sweet Lolo with tears in her eyes looks at me, grabs her ponytail and says, "I have lots of hair, they can have mine!" To my surprise Molly agreed as well. They were ready to get the scissors and donate at that moment. So we got out the measuring tape. Unless they went for a pixie cut, they didn't have long enough hair. They decided that night that they were going to grow out their hair. To show my support, I agreed to join them.

And there you have it- over a year ago we had this conversation, but to this day and always, we will remember it!