The short and curly of it

"Beauty is being the best possible version of yourself on the inside and out." My whole life I have had straight hair, lots of thick, shiny, straight hair. Back in the 80's, I had a lovely bob, it swung to my chin and curled under nicely. Then I had the perm of the 90's, a spiral perm. I paid for curls. I needed body, in the humid summer air, my hair would go flat and I would do whatever I could to "poof" it up. Turn my head upside down to blow dry it, use various sizes of curling irons. I got so good with a curling iron that most people assumed I had natural body or wave to it. Joe at Frenzi's knows the secret, the truth, I had straight straight, heavy hair, that needed thinning out and layers to create the illusion of body. This served me well when I was losing my hair, as I ended up rocking a shorter cut and gradual hair loss for longer than most going through the type of chemotherapy (ABVD) that I did. 

Eventually there came a time when I needed to shave the rest off, eyebrows, eyelashes fell out with it. I felt like a stranger in the mirror, but we soon adjust and I once again came to know and love this new version of myself, bald. Losing my hair was much less upsetting to me than I envisioned that it would be. It was a relief when it was gone. I feel like it gave me strength. I think because I was ready on the inside and embraced it, I continued to see the beauty in starting over. 

Fast forward almost 8 months since my last chemotherapy treatment and voila!! I am now blessed with the curly hair and body that I always wanted! I have a full head of very curly, thick, volumous hair. It is actually pretty crazy, the volume that I have. Thick, soft, untouched by products hair. I have a short little pixie cut and when tamed, I actually love it. Thick eyelashes that seem much longer as well. I want these curls to stay!!! Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and I have been told that my hair will soon revert back to the texture of what it was prior to treatment. Maybe I will be able to ride the curly hair wave a bit longer if I am lucky!! So for those in treatment, yes there was definitely more grey when my hair grew back, but we can easily take care of that. I am embracing this new look. A hair-cut that I would have never had the courage to have years ago. Another silver lining I have found with cancer. Courage. A spirit in me to try new things, take those leaps of faith. 

Here are a few hilarious pictures that my kids took of me when I came home from hot yoga. Can you say wild curls???