Monday, December 19, 2011

Locks for Love...to cut or not to cut, that is the question!

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7350483/arkansas-razorbacks-michael-sanchez-pays-forward-college-basketball


http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html


The minimum length for donation is 10" according to the website, you can go check out the link above for the acceptable and unacceptable types of hair for donation. The webite is very detailed and explanatory in regards to what you need to do and how to go about donating hair that is to be made into a hairpiece for a cancer patient. *(The ESPN story quotes Michael Sanchez of the Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team growing out his hair to donate, but they mention needing 8" so I believe that's either an old figure or just a misprint)


Cancer is that word that instantly puts the ultimate fear into you. It's one of the only diseases that the medical community has researched and treated but not found a "cure" over decades and decades. Treatment has come so so so far compared to what the prognosis patients were getting originally. What's so scary about cancer is it can occur in just about anyone.....it's one of the few evils on this earth just like addiction that can fall upon, young/old and everywhere in between, all different races and religions although statistics do show its more common in some races then others. 


I have always kept my hair relatively short, while in high school and before I had always played sports so it was much easier, and cooler to just keep it that way. And yes, by cool I mean temperature wise, I don't mean that long hair isn't "cool", haha, cause long hair is actually really HOT! 


Anyways, I decided for the first time to just let my hair grow a little, and once it got beyond the point where I usually kept it I had an idea. I had heard of selling hair once it's long enough and i'd also heard of donating it. My sister actually donated her hair twice when she was in elementary/high school. I thought and still think, that was an amazing thing, for a kid that's making such an important decision and gesture especially when it's such a great cause is awsome. 


Now i'm at the point where it's been close to a year probably and in a few more months i'll be getting closer to the minimum length for donation or selling and i'm trying to decide between the two. If I sold it though I would be using the money to donate to a charity or non-profit organization regardless, so no matter which is chosen, it will be something towards someone that really needs a little help. 


The ESPN article is about Michael Sanchez, and it details part of his childhood growing up where the family got together and held tag sales, saved up everything they had, participated in bake sales and things like a car wash, all to make sure the kids were able to play sports and go to games with their travel teams. The kids saw how much time and effort the parents put into volunteering with school and sports teams to help and that clearly made quite the impression on Michael. As I read up on Michael you can't help but feel a little confused how someone that does so many things right, treats people with respect, helps anyone and everyone that asks or doesn't yet he's continued to get injuries that have kept him sidelined over and over and caused him to miss many games throughout his career. 


Sanchez is now growing out his hair to donate because when he was volunteering at the Arkansas Childrens Hospital he was so touched by a little girl and how happy she was helping all the other kids and trying to keep their spirits up. Her name was Zoe and she was suffering from cancer herself, her hair already gone as a sign of what she had been through.....the story really put a smile on my face and I decided to share what I'll be doing as well. The story is absolutely worth the few minutes it will take to give it a read so click that espn link if you have time.


I really think that at this time of year everyone really needs to sit back and reflect on the past year and take the time to just kinda think about how you feel about it. Are you proud of everything you've done in the last 12 months? Is there anything that sticks out and you really regret and wish you could change how you reacted, or what you did, or whatever? No one is perfect, we all make mistakes, and I mean EVERYONE. 


Whether it's George Bush, Barak Obama, Jim my neighbor or myself, we've all done things were not proud of. Some decisions are microfied a lot more because some of us are in the spotlight a lot more but take that out of it. If you had eyes on you 24 hours everyday, of every week, month for the entire year, what would people think and see.....a real man or women is proud of what they do, even when no one is looking.

1 comment:

  1. I am so bummed...I cut 9 1/4 inches. I thought when she began cutting it would be enough to donate, but when she measured it was just short and beyond the point of no return. I definitly wouldve waited the extra month or 2 for that last 3/4 of an inch!

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