Oh you didn’t miss me? Well that’s ok, because I missed you. It’s been crazy times m’peeps. I am so grateful to (almost) all of you for hanging in there with me through a dearth of updates Much to recount. I plan to make up for lost time with obnoxious thoroughness in the next few days….but first things first:
Major Shout- out Time:
A couple of days ago, I came home, feeling super stressed with a cranky child in tow to find box on the doorstep.
Instant mood enhancer.
We eagerly cut it open to discover these wonders awaiting us
Our mood went from enhanced to overjoyed. It was so much fun to re-discover the sweets from my childhood (there’s nothing like the nostalgia of tomato sauce Simba chips) suh a delight to share them with my kids and to discover some new Australian goodies. They even included some toys and a cute hair pretty for Gracie. Michelle is South African and must have picked up on my yearning for some familiarity now and again.
To ship a box like this from Down Under costs a FORTUNE and we are so touched that we were sent this for no special reason. What a lovely, generous gesture. It literally made my day/week. …I find random acts of kindness like this so inspiring. Don’t you? A big, sincere THANK YOU and…….
Speaking of inspiring, this same amazing friend, Michelle, wrote this on facebook earlier this week. I hope she does not mind me posting it here, I think it’s a message that needs to be heard by as many people as possible.
Hair today...gone tomorrow.
I was diagnosed 3 months ago with Alopecia by a doctor with the worst bedside manner I've ever come across. He basically said "You have Alopecia and you're gonna go bald, but you'll keep a ring around the back like a balding man and there's really not much you can do about it."
As you can imagine, I was mortified and walked around shell-shocked all the rest of the day. The thing is, it actually wasn't that much of a surprise diagnosis, because I have had thinning hair since I was about 17 years old which has been getting progressively worse, but I kept putting it down to pregnancies and breastfeeding. For me the shock was firstly the doctor's complete lack of empathy and understanding and secondly, the realisation that I'd been counting on a magic pill that would make the hair all grow back. The story in my head had a "happily ever after" and he was telling me something quite different.
I am now, 3 months later, surprisingly okay with this. Maybe it's denial? But I don't think so. I have been virtually attached to my computer and reading up on this non-stop and the support out there has been so wonderful. What I have seen is AMAZING women who are bald and proud and surprisingly beautiful. And then there are the other women who wear the most magnificent wigs and look phenomenal. And I realise that we are not our hair. I AM NOT MY HAIR! Wow - how liberating is that!
I've done a lot of soul searching and come to the understanding that the people who love us don't love us for our hair or our eyes or our boobs or our teeth. They don't love us for our fingernails or our bums or our noses. They love us for us. We are more than our hair.The more I face this Alopecia Monster, the more I am starting to think it's not such a monster in the end. Sure it's taking my hair. But it's giving me a really beautiful view of myself, my life, my blessings. It's giving me the opportunity to reinvent myself and a perfect excuse to be blonde/brunette/shaggy/curly/long/short as and if I please. It's giving me a chance to teach my children BY DOING, not telling, that who we are is important. Our weight, our hair, our teeth - hell, they're just incidental.
Yep - Alopecia is changing from the Monster into the Mirror. It's making me really look at myself long and hard. And I think I kinda like what I see.
11 comments:
That post was beautiful! I am so sorry that you are losing your hair but your positive attitude has helped me and I know will help so many people. That picture of you is gorgeous and I love the scarf. Thanks for lifting my spirits on a crummy morning.
Debra -http://www.housewifeeclectic.com
What a wonderful gift to receive!! I bet your kids were ecstatic to receive a giant box of candy! :)
Michelle is so inspiring! To handle that kind of news in such a positive way is incredible. She is absolutely beautiful with a warm smile- no doubt she will look great w/ or w/o hair.
Thanks for sharing.
Krista
Wow! What a testimony!!!!! Thank you for sharing this!
Welcome back Kirsty!! I always miss you when you don't post.
Your friend is very inspiring! It would be so easy to wallow in her diagnosis, I LOVE that she is using it as a way to show her family & friends that life isn't about how we look, but about how we love & who loves us.
The goodies look delicious, I'll bet your kids will never forget the joy of receiving such a fun surprise so unexpectedly.
Thank you for re-posting your friend's thoughts on her Alopecia. I, too, deal with the condition and it's so nice to hear how other people, especially women, are dealing with the cards they've been dealt. It is so inspiring!
For your friend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7rSv5NvAK8
you are gorgeous girl!! so sorry you're going thru this, but it sounds like you've got your head on straight!!
You're a honey, Kirsty :-) Thanks for making me feel special. As I said before, you and your family inspire me on a regular basis. xoxo
Thanks too, all you lovely ladies for the love and support! Mmmmmmwah!
Love this post....and the pictures are fabulous.
What an amazingly positive woman. I can't help but say I would have a hard time with losing all my hair.
Aloha Kristy, I am so happy to be visiting you, I appreciated your post and your candidness and pure heart. You know I have been a licensed Hair dresser 28 of my 47 years on this earth and I have seen alot of hair in my day. I have to say that it's all in the style babe and you've got STYLE,' you know I have seen women who have gorgeous hair, but a personality that is BALD!! I'll take a women of great style and substance any day ! You go girl, we all have to answer the same question in Life what really defines us. When I gave birth to my first born, I had a difficult time and it ended in a c section, the day I got home from the hospital I noticed the left side of my face was numb and drooping down, I screamed for my Mom who was in the next room to take me to the emergency, I thought I had had a stroke, but I had Bells Palsy, and I had never heard of it before. the next day was church and I refused to leave my home. I was devastated, would I have a disfigured face for the rest of my life due to nerve damage that may or may not heal? Yes I tried to count my blessings, but my face!?!? being in the beauty business didn't help matters much and it was devastating.
I had a knock on the door that Sunday and it was my Bishop, he said he felt prompted to come and see me and my new little Family. As my husband began to tell him my plight, he shared that his daughter had the same experience. He asked if he could give me a blessing and I was so comforted and grateful for his mantle and his kindness to love me and my Family enough to extend himself in service. I was told to follow the council of my physician..As I was to go to a Nuero surgeon the next day, he told me that only 50 percent of women who get Bells Palsy heal and it is only up to a 70 percent healing. In other words, Im toast, he was cold and very matter of fact. I again was devastated as I left, how could this be?! well I am here today to tell you that I did heal,but that experience taught me a huge lesson about faith and the promises Heavenly Father had made to me in my Pat/blessing that my body would function normally all the days of my life. My situation wasn't mirroring that promise, but the end result did, and so I apologize for the long comment here, but I felt prompted to tell you to be of good courage,for with God all things are possible,and the beauty of your spirit clearly radiates in all of your loveliness...
all my Aloha
Brandi
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