Dream of Waking

Bald for a reason

I don’t look happy, do I? I’m not. I’ve lost all my hair. One minute it was there, the next it’s gone.

No one spends more time on their hair than my mother. She’s losing her hair too. My mother has breast cancer. She’s gone through surgery, now she’s going through chemotherapy. Now she’s unhappy. So since she’s lost hers, I’m losing mine too.

Other people may say, “oh you’re in the Army. You used to shave your head all the time. This is no big deal.” It is a big deal. Before I shaved my head for convenience. Sometime in the last year or two I realized that that was exactly what the Army wanted. They wanted me to just give in and take the easiest route. Taking all your hair is one of those psychological measures the Army takes on new recruits to demonstrate how they’re no longer people, but soldiers. It’s a measure of control. So I stopped shaving mine. I let my hair grow till someone who matters says something about it. My ridiculous, thinning hair is my middle finger to the Army.

Maybe others will notice that I’ve shaved it all off and I can help raise awareness. Or maybe you’re reading this and you want to help show solidarity with my mother and shave your head too. Either way I’m going to tell you about my fantastic mother and how she’s fighting cancer and going to be okay.