Locks of Love

(I wrote this about six months ago for a local magazine, but I’ve not seen it published yet. They had their time, so I’m posting it here. Hope you enjoy!)

For a seven year old, giving anything up is difficult. Children, like all of us, are by nature selfish people. When a child decides to give up something personal to help someone they don’t even know, it is a special thing to witness.

In April, our daughter Ashlee noticed an article on the front page of a small-town newspaper about a girl who had donated her hair to a charity called Locks of Love. This charity provides hairpieces to children under the age of 18 who have long-term hair loss due to a medical condition. The hairpieces are given at low cost or free of charge.

She began reading the article and asking questions about it. “Why did the little girl pictured cut her hair?” “Where does the hair go?” “What do they do with it?” After a few questions, we pulled up Locks of Love’s website and began telling her about all that the charity does. We were about to end the conversation, thinking it was just part of satisfying the curiosity of a seven year old. She sat thoughtfully for a moment, then said “I want to do that.”

When we understood that she was serious about it, we sat her down and told her what she needed to do. She had to cut off at least 10 inches of hair, and we would send it in for her. We also told her how proud we were that she wanted to contribute to such a great cause.

The morning of April 30, my wife took Ashlee to Salon 203 in Van Alstyne. When they arrived, the salon was about to close for the day. However, when Ashlee and Collette explained why they were there, Whitney Mandes exclaimed that she would love to be the one to cut Ashlee’s hair. Thirty minutes later, Ashlee had a new, shorter hair cut and an 11 inch ponytail of  hair to send to Locks of Love.

We mailed off the package containing her hair the next week. It’s funny how such a nondescript brown package can mean so much. To us, this was a happy moment, a signal of the growing maturity of our oldest daughter. It was inspired by a little girl from a small town in Kansas. We may never know who receives Ashlee’s gift. It is our prayer that this story inspires others to give as well.