Hair

When Herself was little, she wore her hair in two braids, with bangs.  People would tell her that she resembled Elizabeth from The Waltons.  She did, actually.

In seventh grade, she gave up the pigtails of her youth, and had her hair cut in the style popularized by figure skater Dorothy Hamill in the late 1970's.  That was likely a mistake.  Herself was a late bloomer; a short haircut in an era in which boys tended to wear their hair slightly long rendered her rather androgynous.  She endured an unfortunate year in which many people assumed she was a boy.

In her high school and college years, she experimented with her hair.  She was never quite able to achieve the height or proper feathering of hairdos of the girls in the early 1980s, for her hair has always been incredibly straight, fine, and stubborn.  Even perming it would only yield a slight curl and a bit more body that would quickly grow out and fade. 

She gave up perming her hair and allowed it to grow in straight, long, and bangless in her early 20s. Once the children were born, though, she reverted to shorter hair, under the presupposition that shorter hair would be easier for a busy working mother. She kept it short for many years.

Around her 40th birthday, right at about the time she started taekwondo, she gave up cutting her hair short.  In some ways, it was an outward expression of an inward change:  she would no longer have the Mom Hairdo that was expected of her, just as she would no longer sit back and do exactly what was expected of her.  She could have long hair, and she could learn taekwondo, even if women her age didn't normally do such things. 

About a year ago, she briefly contemplated cutting her hair short once more. She was close to deciding to do so, and solicited advice from those close to her. She ultimately chose to leave her hair long, and is grateful that she did so. She would have missed it tremendously. 

She loves the long hair.  She finds the texture and the length to be soothing and comforting.  It's like having Linus' security blanket with her always.

This past Saturday, Herself had her hair in a loose ponytail to keep it out of the way while assisting with the taekwondo belt test for the gym.  One of her tasks was to keep the younger students contained -- belt testing can be long and tiresome for them, and she fielded questions from them regarding progress of the test, what to expect next, and whether they could be excused to visit the restroom.  She very much likes working with "The Littles," as she thinks of them. They are lively and enthusiastic, even though they do not have full control of their bodies or comprehension of all that is asked of them.

One particularly tiny little boy spoke in such a soft voice that she had to lean way down to hear his question; when she did so, her ponytail dangled over her shoulder in between her and the boy.  He paused, distracted.  He then reached up and delicately touched the very end of her ponytail while slowly completing his sentence. It seemed to settle him. She found it endearing.