Blonde!

You heard that right. This girl just found out whether blondes actually have more fun!

A little backstory:

I decided in October that my 25th alopecia-versary gift to myself would be some fun new hair, but deciding it and actually doing it turned out to be miles apart. I hemmed, hawed, and delayed for a while, then finally decided to go shopping for some new hair to take with us for our upcoming wedding anniversary getaway. My son was with me on shopping day, and when the time came to drive there I found myself turning my car in the opposite direction of the wig store, giving a lame excuse about preferring to go shopping another day. The truth is, I was nervous.

That's when my 9 year old stepped up and started coaching me. "Mom, it's your hair and it's your choice so I support whatever you want to do. But what do you think is under this decision not to do this right now? What do you really want to do?" Um...what? He knocked my socks off. As I answered his questions and told him what I was feeling, the fear just melted away. We drove straight to the store and proceeded to have the best time trying on wigs.

Our experience at the store reminded me of Ollivander's from Harry Potter -- there were boxes upon boxes upon boxes of wigs, but the women working there knew just which ones to pull from the middle of the stacks for me to try. Some were too blonde, some too Dolly Parton, some too...no. But we took photos of each, and as I showed them to my husband that night, I suddenly noticed that in each picture, my son was hugging me around the middle and grinning from ear to ear. Later he told me that going to the wig shop with me was "so cool" and the best part of his day. He. Is. Awesome.

My husband and I went back to the store two days later on our way to our anniversary getaway and found The One. I walked into the shop a brunette, and walked out a blonde!

I. Felt. Awesome.

I intended to wear the new girl for the day and then be a brunette for the weekend, but she was so fun I just couldn't help myself and wore her almost 100% of the time. For our anniversary dinner I switched to brunette, but was delighted to find myself genuinely not caring whether other people at the B&B took note of the change. Amazing! The one surprise for me was how often I startled myself when catching glimpses of my reflection in shop windows or sideview mirrors. My husband cracked up at my yelps of surprise. We had the best time.

I'm so thankful for a fun and fancy free weekend with my favorite person, and for a family who supports and cheers me on when I'm trying hard to be brave (and especially when I'm not totally sure I can be).

I don't know if all blondes have more fun, but this one definitely did!

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