Shave My Head!

I'm going bald.

Not slowly.  What I mean is, on September 25, I am going to have my head shaved to raise money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

Volunteers shave their heads in solidarity with kids fighting cancer, and family and friends give generously - worldwide. The St. Baldrick's Foundation uses the donations to fund more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the United States Government.

I found a great place to host the event, a little ice cream shop around the corner with an awesome owner.  Come to find out, this isn't his first time to be involved in saving lives.  A few years ago, he did something far more dramatic -- he donated a kidney to a guy he knew.  Angels are everywhere.

Several of my friends are shaving their heads, too.  The Hysteric Cleric has two pots going at his church -- one for "shave" and one for "don't."  (I might have to tip the scales into the "shave" category.  Shhh, don't tell him.) Blowing my mind, several of my female friends are shaving their heads.

Are they crazy???

Being a female with long hair, I've gotten more than a few questions about why I'm willing to shave off my mane. 

Well, three reasons.  First, I look at Little Warrior, my little two-time survivor.  This second treatment regimen she got, it's a new development, just from the past few years.  And I can't help but think, you know, she might be here today because yesterday someone else was willing to shave their head.

And the second reason is completely self-serving.  I'm not very brave -- I'm just not.  And I'm self-conscious.  But I'd like to be the kind of person who'd be willing to shave my head for charity.  The quickest way I know to become that person ... is to shave my head.  And really ... it's just hair.

And the third reason ... because I'm tired of crying as yet another child "earns their angel wings."  We need more success stories. 

So, there you go.

Father Mac is getting his head shaved, too.  Good grief, he already has a buzz cut.  In one week, he'll be back to normal.  But he had to rib me some.  He emailed me:

OK, let me get this gay, er straight. You want a gay man to cut all his hair off. You might as well ask me to cut off another part of my anatomy that I am extremely fond of. What would my stylist Jose do??????? Do you even realize how much I spend in hair products every month? Sure, go ahead and send me a picture of your daughter when she was having chemo-I know how you operate.

 Well, heck.  If you're going to throw down a challenge like that ...  here's what I sent him:

Hey.  He started it!

(He'll be there.)

There are a lot of reasons to donate and get your friends to donate:

* Like Peacebang, you share a horror of hennaed hair.  (It's all coming off, baby!)
* You have a fetish for Demi Moore in GI Jane or Sigourney Weaver in Alien 3 or ... um, Jane Curtin in Coneheads.
* You know I'll be blogging about the adventures in being a bald woman without hair privilege.
* One blog sharing the blood and guts about childhood cancer is enough.  Prevent "cancer-mom blogging" by preventing childhood cancer.
* Because childhood cancer is different than adult cancer.  (Both suck, though.)
* Because you have a kid.
* Because you know a kid. 
* Because you were a kid.

And kids shouldn't get cancer.  All these years in cancer world, I haven't shaken that gut feeling.  It never became acceptable.  It never stopped seeming completely bizarre.  Kids shouldn't get cancer.  Period.

Oooh, now I'm going to have a great excuse to buy lots of hats.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

(Just to be absolutely clear ... all donations go to the St. Baldrick's foundation, which gives grants for childhood cancer research.  No monies go to Lizard Eater, Little Warrior, nor their real-life alter-egos.)