“Meeting Faith”

     One of the surprising and rather horrifying aspects of this aging process, at least for me, is the realization that my hair is getting thinner and thinner.  I know that the prospect of baldness is extremely unpleasant for most men but for women, I believe, it is far worse.  Somehow it doesn’t seem to be in the natural order of things.
     Granted, many women going through chemotherapy wear their baldness proudly – a symbol of courage and hope.  But I’m not talking about that sort of hair loss.  I’m speaking of that spotty, thinning kind that often leaves patches of scalp exposed unbeknownst to the ‘victim.’  I do believe that it’s the sort that is creeping (galloping?) up on me.  I am trying to come to grips with it.
     My grandmother often said that a woman’s hair was her “crowning glory.”  When her daughter Medora was experimenting with “slicking back” her hair, she wrote:
     When you take the frame of your hair from your face it is like plucking the petals off a daisy and leaving the bald pod.  Some people’s hair is not a necessity.  Yours is – so is mine.
     So is mine, or at least so I’ve always thought.
     Yet, I remember that when I first heard about the ‘science of phrenology,’ I tried to feel through my (then) thick tresses to see what kind of a lumpy, bumpy skull might be hidden underneath.  Supposedly, that could reveal the various aspects of my personality and character.  I concluded from my exploratory groping that I must have plenty of each.  My skull does not feel smooth and even.  I don’t think I would qualify as the Yul Brynner or Telly Savalas of the female set.
     Faith Adiele, on the other hand, could be the poster girl for female baldness.  Faith was an Espy Foundation resident here some years back and when we knew her she had a full head of gorgeous hair.  However, we saw pictures of her taken during the time she spent as a Buddhist Nun in a Thai temple.  She wrote about her quest in meeting faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun.
     Faith was (is) beautiful (with and) without hair – perhaps a reflection of her innate spirit and the inner strength she found along the difficult journey she chose. Well, I don’t think I’m a candidate for such a journey, but if this hair-thinning situation becomes more serious, I certainly will read Faith’s book again!  Her resolve, her insights, and her fabulous sense of humor are well-worth a re-visit.