Courtney and Melissa had been halfheartedly playing a board game to pass the time, but abandoned it quickly when Melissa’s mother brought a plate of fresh cookies and two glasses of milk to Melissa’s room. They jumped to their feet.
“Now?” Melissa asked looking expectantly at her mother.
“Yes, come downstairs as soon as you eat your cookies,” her mother told the two girls and left the room. Unable to wait, the two girls trailed after Melissa’s mother munching cookies along the way. Within minutes Melissa sat excitedly on a stool in the kitchen while her mother brushed her beautiful hair into a neat pony tail and secured it tightly with a rubber band. Courtney stood close at hand as a helpful assistant, passing the measuring tape to Melissa’s mother. Carefully measuring off ten inches from the bottom edge of the pony tail to above the rubber band, Melissa’s mother marked the spot with a bobby pin.
The flash from a camera kept lighting the scene as Melissa’s dad shot pictures from every angle. Melissa’s mom accepted the scissor’s that Courtney held out to her, then carefully cut across Melissa’s hair above the pony tail along the bobby pinned mark. Dramatically, she handed the cut pony tail still tied with a rubber band to Melissa, and the room broke out with shouts of joy and excitement. Laughing and dancing from foot to foot, Melissa held her cut pony tail aloft, and with her arm around her best friend, posed for a few more pictures.
Still breathless with excitement, Melissa ceremoniously curled her beautiful pony tail carefully into a plastic bag, and then eased it into a bubble wrap envelope. They penned the address on the outside, and slipped a completed form into the envelope. The sealing of the package received almost as much fanfare as the cutting and everyone cheered. All that remained was a visit to the post office to send the priceless package along its way with a tracking number to follow its progress and assure its safe arrival at its destination.
As Melissa’s mother trimmed Melissa’s much shorterbeautiful blonde hair to even out the cut, she stopped and gave her a hug. “I’m very proud of you,” she spoke quietly to her daughter.
Melissa K. donates her hair to a charity as often as it reaches ten inches, the minimum requirement for a useable donation. Her last hair cut marked the third time she had given her hair to the charity that makes prosthetic hair pieces for children with permanent hair loss. Everyone who knows about Melissa’s donations agree that Melissa’s giving spirit is as beautiful as her lovely hair.
Thank you Melissa, for sharing your Story with us.
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© 2008 by Mary-Kay Eastman and Story of My Life®