About a week ago at work, I went to the bathroom. While washing my hands I leaned close to the mirror and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. There it was, in all it's glory--a gray hair. This wasn't like "oh, could that be a particularly shiny piece of hair?"--nope, it was a real gray hair, and not a short one either so I'm not sure how it hid from me for so long. Do you see it? It's at least 4 inches long.
Initially, I panicked and made a mental note to call the salon asap to inquire about how much highlights costs and then panicked a little more when I realized I had a dentist appointment that afternoon. Surely, the hygienist was bound to notice the billboard attached to my head that screamed, "look at her first gray hair!"
At the dentist I felt obliged to acknowledge that yes, I did indeed know that I had a big gray hair but then regretted it because she didn't notice until after I told her. At that point I was pretty sure NASA could see it from the International Space Station. My hygienist is very nice and offered to pull it out for me but I knew Josh would want to see it so I declined. What are spouses for if we can't make fun of each other aging?
That has been over 2 weeks ago and I still haven't pulled it out. The topic of my hair came up at the dinner table tonight (I brought it up not Josh) and I told Josh I wasn't going to pull it. He thought I should. I think it's funny but I just can't bring myself to do it. Now that the initial shock of having a gray hair (and I'm certain there are more I just haven't found them) has worn off I'm embracing it--I didn't even call the salon to find out how much highlights cost!
In some ways it feels like yet another initiation into womanhood or motherhood. I'm proud of it. Maybe it's a sign that I'm moving on in the next chapter of life. Instead of being the "young" woman or "young" mother, I'm now just a woman or mother and I'm OK with that. In a way, I kind of like it. Is that weird?
For now, the hair is staying. Now, should a whole crop appear I may re-evaluate the situation! Ha!
What do you do about your gray hairs?
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