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| Me and my niece, who was blessed with straight hair. |
I have had thick, naturally curly hair all my life. It has a mind of it’s own. My mom didn’t know how to deal with it so she had it cut super short all the way up until about high school when I was sick of looking like a boy. It wasn’t until after college that I learned how to blow it out straight with lots of product and a ton of flat ironing. It doesn’t even look as good when I do it as when a stylist does it.
I can’t wash my hair every day because it strips the hair of natural oils and increases the frizziness. When I do achieve a reasonably good hair day it usually only lasts until I sleep on it and the next morning it has to be pulled back into a pony or butterfly clip. I work out so often that my hair stays pulled up most of the time.
On rare mornings such as this past Sunday, I wake up and find my curls are pretty tame looking and can be salvaged with minimal effort. This makes me very happy, especially when I’m trying to get the whole family ready for church without a big rush. So I did my quick fix and we all headed out the door, at which point this conversation happened.
Me: Are we gonna park at the YMCA and take the tram over to church? (We usually do.)
Mike: Why not? It’s not that cold out.
Me: Well, riding the tram always messes up my hair.
Mike: But there’s no wind today!
Me: Riding the tram creates its own wind and my curls blow all over.
Mike: Well you could sit in the back and ride it backwards!
Me: No! Silly, that would make it even worse.
Mike: I just figured if it gets messed up going forward, riding backward should fix it! *smirk*
Me: Nooooo. It’s fine to ride on days when my hair is pulled back but today my hair is very…uh…what’s the word I’m looking for…fragile?
Mike: Unstable?!
Me: Yes! That’s it! Unstable. It’s in an unstable state. (We both start laughing.)
Mike: What’s the half-life of your curls? (Increased laughter.) What’s the reaction energy?
Me: It’s very short. I dunno what the rate of reaction is.
(As two chemical engineers we both lost it, walking into church giggling uncontrollably as our kids just stared.)
Later the same day, a hairstylist cutting my son’s hair praised me for “embracing your curls”. She was obviously foreign but I couldn’t tell from where. She had dark skin and was wearing her dreadlocks tied up in a scarf. This lady went on and on about my hair and curls in general and products and how great they were.
Little did she know how much I wish I had straight hair most of the time and really I’m just too lazy and low maintenance to blow it out straight every day. Or even every week. But I always do for special events.
I am trying to embrace my curls though, thanks to much scripture about how uniquely gifted and precious we are as God’s creation and thanks to people like Karen Walrond constantly reminding me that different is beautiful.