My hair is starting to get annoyingly long. It gets in the way and is flopping around my shoulders. That doesn’t mean I don’t like it. It just means that I’ve finally noticed that it’s long. It has felt short for years.

I used to have short hair. My hairdresser, Jackie, was so wonderful that I would let her do whatever she wanted to my hair. It used to be this long before I found her and we cut it all off and sent it to Locks of Love. When she was doing my hair, I kept it short and had a haircut every four to six weeks.

Then, Jackie’s cancer came back.

I kept going to her until she was unable to cut hair. I kept visiting her at her home and when her hair fell out, I took her to buy a couple of wigs. When things got worse, I sat with her, talking about her past or in silence. She talked to me a lot before things got their worst. she told me of her respect for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She grew up in Las Vegas and the Reverend came to her city to march. She and her mother marched with him. He had a huge impact on Jackie’s life. She had a framed poster of him in her small apartment.

When she died, I took in her two cats, Andrew and Maddie. It took a while, but we were able to find a home for them. Months later, I called the girl who adopted them. She loved Maddie and her children loved Andrew. They were very happy and she never considered giving them back.

I have found a new hairdresser, but I don’t have the same relationship with her as I did with Jackie. Before I met Jackie, my hair had the exact same cut as I have now. When she died, I started growing it out into a simple bob, which turned into this long mane. I don’t know if I’ll ever find a hairdresser I trust as much as I did Jackie. I don’t even know if I want one.

I guess I’ll just let my hair grow and grow until it stops growing. It’s just easier that way.