Premature Balding was Humiliating, Until it was Liberating

Growing up I’d go to my mom’s friend Cara for haircuts. I sat in the chair of her garage studio and blurred my vision to pass the time. The tingly feeling of Cara’s fingers tracing through my hair like a card catalog would put me in a trance. Every so often she asked me to tilt my head forward or back.

“Your hair is so thick,” she told me.

“Sorry,” I said, thinking she meant it was difficult to cut.

“It’s a good thing! It’s healthy. You’ll have it a long time.”

I wish she’d been right about that.