Description: I had a big day today. I've been growing my hair out to donate it to Locks of Love for years, and I finally bit the bullet and did it this afternoon. I'll miss my ponytail, but I like my new cut too and it feels great to know that someone will be able to use it to feel better about how THEY look. Before: ======= It is two hours until my scheduled appointment to get my hair cut. Sounds like a non-event, but today it’s a BIG event. I’m cutting 10” off and donating it to Locks of Love. I’ve been growing my hair out for three years, and it’s finally long enough to donate it. I have to admit, the thought of cutting that much hair off makes me a little nauseous. I love my long hair. I love the way it feels and how it looks, and truthfully, I don’t want to give it up. But…this is something I’ve been planning to do for at least a year. Every time I need a trim I think about whether this time I should go ahead and cut it off. Last time I chickened out, but now I think it’s finally time to do it. I’m not necessarily ready for such a huge change in how I look, but I think I can handle it. Hair is important to nearly every girl. I think that’s why I want to donate it. If I lost all of mine because I was sick, I would definitely want to wear a hairpiece to help me feel better about the way I looked. Since I have the ability to donate mine, and I know it will grow back, I feel like it’s something I should do. So I’m going to do it--today. I just finished washing, drying and straightening it. I made it as straight as I could to try and make it as long as possible. Ten inches is a whole lot of hair. Over the past few days since I decided to do this, each time I find myself twirling my hair or pulling it back, I have a kind of sad feeling because I feel like it’s the last time I’ll do that and when I reach for it tomorrow, it won’t be there. It sounds so silly, but this long hair has been with me a LONG time. I’ll try not to cry when she makes that first cut. I don’t think I will. I mean, I know it will grow back. I have photos over the past three years that show me that it will. I know what I look like with short hair, so that won’t be such a shock. It will just be different. I cut almost this much off once before, just after Ben and I got married. I didn’t like it then, but the lady who cut it didn’t straighten it after she cut it, so it was just VERY poofy. Today I’m going to a lady that Tiffany goes to, who knows how to straighten and fix naturally curly hair, so that should help. Plus, this time I have a purpose for cutting it that’s more important than me. That will help me feel better about such a huge change. Deep breath. One hour and 45 minutes left of long hair. I can do it, and I WILL do it. And someone somewhere will benefit from it. After: ======= I made it. And it wasn’t so bad! My stomach was in knots the whole drive over there. I couldn’t even look at the hair magazine I brought with me while I was sitting there, because I was so nervous. After a few minutes of waiting in the waiting room, April (the hairstylist) came and brought me back to her station. I nearly cried when I told her what I wanted to do, but she was so nice and excited for me. She measured my hair, told me about where it would be cut to and then started massaging my scalp. Turns out that’s a regular part of the haircut at this place! It really helped relax me a little bit. Then she washed my hair, combed it out, put it in a low ponytail, measured it and started cutting! I asked Ben to come take a photo of her chopping it off. I bit my lip and tried not to look the whole time she was cutting. Finally she handed me my ponytail and it was a done deal. It’s funny--once it was done, the knots in my stomach disappeared. I guess because there wasn’t any going back at that point. So, it wasn’t quite as traumatic as I thought it might be. She finished trimming and shaping the rest of my hair and styled it with a little flip. I loved my long hair, but I like my new haircut too, and it feels good to know that someone will be able to use my old ponytail.