In reflecting back over the past couple of months, I have a number of customers who come to mind. First, is the group of young women I spoke of in my July 16th entry.The customer and her girl friends came to chose the wig. What an inspiring group of young women! They came with their garage sale money and put it towards the cost of the new wig. She chose a long, dark human hair wig. Being a veteran wig wearer, she was very clear on the features that were most important to her. Thankfully, I was able to accommodate and she left excited (and humbled) to start wearing her new hair!
Another woman going through chemotherapy came to me with such great energy and gorgeous smile on her face. She spoke of the fact she is a marathon runner, of which I was also. I felt an immediate connection to her enthusiastic approach to getting through this ‘marathon’ called breast cancer treatment. She shares her progress through a periodic blog update. The analogies are so great. She refers to each treatment as a ‘hill’. She has 8 ‘hills’ to climb, meaning 8 chemo treatments. After each treatment, she reports that she has one more ‘hill’ behind her with her eye on the finish line, of which she cannot see yet, but she knows it there. She uses the water stops as an analogy for the family and friends who are there to help cheer her on and keep her physically and emotionally sustained. We have both drawn on this life’s experience and learned that the endurance, attitude, and sheer grit that it takes to run a marathon is very similar to fighting and winning the biggest battle of our lives. There’s nothing like crossing that finish line and receiving the award of ‘Cancer Survivor’!!
I enjoyed meeting a young 24 year old young woman who came to me with a beautiful head of long, dark hair which was going to be gone shortly due to chemotherapy. She has an adorable 16 month old daughter. Along with her mom, the three of them came to visit me. She was quite clear on the fact she wanted a human hair wig because she likes to blow dry, curl, style and have fun with her hair. She called herself a ‘girly girl’. You can see her photo on my blog. Her name is Nitasha. She’s a cutie! I was amazed at her resiliency and maturity. She made a comment I won’t forget. In light of being treated for Lymphoma, she said she has so many blessings in her life…they far outweigh the challenge of going through chemotherapy and cancer. What a great attitude! She has wonderful family support clearly shown by the turnout at her benefit in September. Once again, family and friends pull together to make the best of a difficult situation. Truly amazing!
I value each customer that visits my studio. We spend a relatively brief amount of time together in the big picture, but the time spent is precious as I work with them on such an intimate and personal level. Seeing a woman leave with renewed confidence is all I can ask for. I am grateful for the opportunity.
