Anna's Donation

It has been years in the making - seriously, she decided to do this at the end of 1st grade and she finished 3rd grade this week - but today Anna cut her hair to donate it to Wigs for Kids.

Hair today, gone tomorrow..........

Wondering how it's going to look when it's done.....

Feeling the cool breeze on her neck......

Jonah also got a nice clean up trim.  These 2 are looking sharp!

Julia couldn't stand not being part of the action, so she got her hair braided.

Noah got his first haircut since his head shave in March.  He went from looking a bit like a cotton ball to looking like a respectable young man again.

It may be without the fanfare of Noah's head shaving, but we are so proud of Anna for her kindness and care for others.  We recognize that this was a long game for her, taking years of commitment and perseverance to get her hair to be long enough to donate.

Just about 2 years ago, I remember asking Anna if it was time for a hair cut, as her hair was longer than it had been in quite some time.  She coyly told me that she didn't want a hair cut, and with a little prodding, I realized that she was planning to grow her hair out to donate it.  In the beginning, she was hesitant to let anyone else know her plan, but over time because more and more comfortable sharing it.  Through the years, we talked about the different organizations that collect hair - we talked about their length requirements as well as the population each organization focuses on and how they interact with patients in need.  In the end, Anna really wanted to donate to Wig for Kids - even though they had the longest length requirement, because they were the organization most likely to work with kids with cancer.  This labor of love was born out of the hard in our story - another example of beauty from the ashes, and we are so proud of Anna for being willing to make a difference in someone else's story.

A special shout out to my friend, and fellow cancer mom, Brittany at Flur De Lis Salon in Barrington (http://fleurdelissalon.net) who welcomed everyone into the salon.  She is responsible for Anna's very fashionable "after" hair style as well as Jonah and Noah's cleaned up dos and Julia's fancy braid.  Thank you for helping to make this a great experience!