I have always had an abundance of hair. Here’s a photograph of me when I was just one day old.

And here is another, just six weeks later:

While I have flirted with shorter styles now and again, usually my hair has been shoulder-length or positively Victorian.

When I was in high school, though, I had a classmate who struggled not just with adolescence (like the rest of us) but with cancer. She had lost her hair and wore a wig of acrylic fibers. Though she never said so, I know that it made her feel self-conscious.

Decades later, something clicked when I learned about the charity Locks of Love. My neighbors’ granddaughter, a young teenager, donated her beautiful long blond hair to help another child. Established in 1997, the Locks of Love purpose reads this way: Our mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children free of charge.

As I researched more, I learned that even those with (ahem!) a few (or more) strands of silver can donate hair, since the more senior hair can be sold to other wig-makers and the proceeds go to support Locks of Love’s work. Knowing that, I talked about it with my kind stylist, Lindsay, the owner and manager of Buzz Salon here in Northfield, who agreed to make the donation on my behalf.

So, ready for a change, I set the appointment and set about enjoying the last weeks of having longish hair. Below is a pictorial summary of the past few days.

EARLIER THIS WEEK, ON VACATION….

YESTERDAY….

AND TODAY, SHAKING HANDS WITH THE NEW ‘DO!