I’M CUTTING IT OFF!

So after much thought and an equal amount of frustration I have come to a decision. Something must be done. There is no escaping it and drastic measures are called for.

How I set upon this path though, requires some explanation.

A few years back, I was saddled with the burden of caring for an aging parent. This is a truly onerous task to put it mildly. Taking on this burden meant everything in my own life had to be put on hold, on hold for a period of several years.

If you try to explain the scope of how all-consuming a task this is to someone who hasn’t gone through it themselves, they can’t fully grasp its scope.

When you care for an aging parent, your life is a constant battle, as you are being challenged by a person of diminishing capacity who does not want to let go of the reins of control. Think of a fading power unwilling to change the status quo.

To be a caregiver is a challenging job in and of itself but, to add the element of battling with someone who knows you almost as well as you know yourself, makes the job take on Sisyphean proportions.

You sacrifice.

Things fall by the wayside in your life. Works, relationships, friends, all are a fading backdrop as your time is increasingly occupied by the management of your charge’s deteriorating condition.

Age is the one disease from which no one recovers.

If you can comport yourself with grace and retain your sanity, you are one of the special few, but no doubt there will be moments when literally you will think about banging your head against the wall in frustration.

So, why cut it off?

After watching the woman in my life have her fill of this and realizing I had no time to even think of dating, I began to wonder what use I had for even toying with the concept of a social life. Also, I thought given the circumstances and the competition I face in my age group, it wouldn’t matter much anyway.

I’m talking about my hair, of course.

You might have read something else into the title but, I had let my hair grow incredibly long.

On the one hand, I thought it was to my advantage. Many of my peers can no longer boast about having a full field of hair never mind having long flowing locks. And... I have hair; it has a life of its own! Although the rub is, I keep it up most of the time, so I can’t say anyone enjoys it.

There was an earlier period when I first met my previous companion and having such a mop of hair was a plus. She loved being loomed over by a beast of a man and being buried beneath wild tresses.

There was something very raw in those moments, raw and fun.

I lopped off all the hair as a concession though. Wanting to impress those members of family I came to meet who were conservative, I wanted to make that ‘good impression.’ So, as the song goes, ‘that long beautiful hair’ it was gone.

I stayed with short hair for quite some time, and then I took on this burden and she left.

And my hair grew...

...and it grew and grew.

Until we reached where we are today.

It’s more of a bother than anything now though. Lacking a single focus of my attentions, wanting to make that good ‘first impression’ my mane has become more of a liability. Instead of it being appreciated, it takes on the aspect of me being ill-kept and ungroomed.

So, off it must go!

Still, there is a chance to take anything and turn it to good ends if you are of a mind and even though I am taking the dramatic step of going back to ‘short hair’ some good will come out of this.

I found an organization that will take my long locks and turn it into a wig for children stricken with cancer. At the very least someone will get a chance to appreciate it and in the end that’s all that matters. (1278 Views pre transfer)