Thanks for the chuckle, Connie. I started losing my hair when my baby was born. Since that was nearly 40 years ago, I'm pretty sure it's not coming back. I used to have your thick hair, but hormones can have that effect. I blame my dad for the male balding pattern (sorry, dad). I've gotten to the point where I don't even notice it, unless I see a photo of myself. No matter the angle, I've got this huge balding patch on my crown. Somehow, it seems to glow brightly in photographs.
Hair loss aside, I stopped coloring my hair after my son's wedding in 2010. I found my first gray hair at age 16, and it was lo-o-o-ong, so I was ready for my hair to lean hard into the gray category. Instead, it's gone gradually salt-n-pepa (sorry, had to) and now, 13 years later, it's still more dark than gray. So, fewer hairs, but a color I can live with.
Do you love your hair color (post-salon)? Then it's perfect. I'll never tug on yours and I expect the same courtesy. ;)
Some days it’s just personal!! And we love that! Because no matter the fighting in DC, we all have daily lives to work our way through. And we’d prefer to look our best doing it 😎
Thanks for sharing all of this!! I was at my hairdresser’s today also, and she never lets me down!
I was following a car that had the vanity plate "I'm Nasty" I tried to think of all the possibilities that would evolve to this end. I ended up feeling sad for the driver.
I started getting gray hair in high school. By the time I was 36, I was dyeing it in earnest. I’m a couple of years younger than you. My husband wouldn’t care if I let my hair go gray. BUT, until a year ago, my MIL was still dyeing hers. I always said when she went gray, I’d think about it. I’m still thinking about it.
We have a 6-degrees of separation relationship. Your MIL was one of my grandmother's "besties." My grandmother was Helen Mulholland. I spent much of the 1st year of my life as a resident in the "Model Home" at Kent State. My mother was a Home Economics major at the time, and received special permission so that she did not have to live in the Model Home because she was married & had an infant. This meant that she had to be at The Home from only 6am - 12am. (Please, God, let that place no longer exist! Not the major in Home Ec, just the requirement that women live in a "Model home" for any period of time. My best to you and your husband, Melinda S. Warner (Yep. Maura Casey did work for my father after he left the Akron-Beacon Journal and moved to the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune. Like I said - 6 degrees...)
My 83y.o. Mom is currently in "a rehab facility," (aka 1 step shy of a nursing home). Seeing the pictures with the captions you included made her laugh. This could be the only one she's gotten in the past week. I am a regular reader of yours, grateful now for both your pix & your words.
Connie! You make my heart smile and my face to host a full-on giggle! I live on the backwaters of Auglaize River in NW Ohio and love my waterfowls. I will say that in 20+ years I have never seen a duck (or goose) raise a "misplaced" feather in my direction. Thank you for showing the true colors of the happy geese, adorable rubber duckie and providing a reminder that in spite of the naughty fingers, foul feathers or filth-promoting flags, it is up to us to show the "colors" we choose! As for me, I have some gray, but if I were to dabble in a change of color, it might be a nice true blue.
You are hilarious. I, too, have spent more money than I care to admit on keeping the gray at bay in my hair. I love your essays! I also will be voting for and supporting your husband!
"I love it when you arrive in my inbox." It's really like that, isn't it?! It's like Connie (all of her, not just her words) really did just pop up in your inbox for a neighborly chat.
I do so love the way you write, Connie, and the way you think, and the way your thoughts often take a sharp turn into a serendipitous curve . . . that I can follow. Not sure what that says about me or about you. But I like it. You seem a bit sillier in this space, a bit freer to ramble -- but enough of a professional to know how to be done. I haven't quite figured that out.
The gray hair thing is such a dilemma. In my family, we all start going white (not gray) in our 30s, thanks to my my Irish/English mom. She refused to color her hair, preferring, she claimed, to be the woman about whom people said, "Look at the young woman with all that white hair," rather than "Look at the old woman dyeing her hair - who does she thinks she's fooling!" My oldest sister, a college professor, followed her lead. The next oldest sister and I, both in business (she her own landscape business, me in corporate life) persisted in dyeing our hair because we refused to be dismissed, which is what seemed to happen with woman of no-color-hair. The day I retired at 67, I stopped getting my hair dyed. It didn't take long to go all white since I keep short hair. I amuse myself cajoling my hairdresser into putting a couple of blue or purple streaks in it for my birthday month. He resists because he comes from a multi-generational Italian salon family, and old ladies don't do silly stuff like that. But he likes me and I like him, so he tolerates me. Hair is one of those things that (mostly) grows back, so why not be silly with it? I do envy you your hair. You do have scads of it, and it's gorgeous, dyed or undyed. I think you'd be an amazing white-haired force of nature.
I support going gray!!! During Covid I began the process. It turns out it's white with with underlying shades of black! I don't know how that happened. The secret is a really nice chic hair do. I have a short bob.
I agree with Beth totally…really look forward to these. I’m also almost finished with The Daughters of Erietown and am enjoying that as well, tho there’s so much sadness there.
Re hair, I, too, have thick hair that takes a long time to color, so my trips to the salon are quite long as well! But my color guy and I are growing old together and I feel like half the staff are friends of mine at this point, so my forays there are always mostly pleasureable…I bring my Ipad so I can read, bec I can’t wear my reading glasses lest they get full of hair color!
And I am grateful for my thick hair, as I’m over 70 now and many of my friends have found their hair has gotten a lot thinner. My daughter tells me to stop coloring it, because what’s the point? I’m old, give it up!
I say, “Rage, rage, against the dying of the light!” My hair, my body, my life! And I love wearing warm colors…grey hair is definitely winter. Not for me, not yet!
I have a cousin who is a year older than me. She colored her hair for years (she had the time and the money to do it, but it wasn’t fooling anyone.) Then one time, about 5 years ago, we got together again and she was completed gray! I made some comment about her going natural. She gave me this look of pure contentment and said, “It’s so liberating!” She was about 60 at the time and has embraced her gray ever since.
I have never colored my hair. Never seemed important to me. It goes along with the fact that I haven’t worn makeup for decades. I decided people can like, for me. (I also get some satisfaction knowing I have saved a ton of money along the way.)
It matters not to me what others choose. I am content with my choices, and content to let others live as they please.
I love your writings! Look forward to them in my feed. And I’m sure I would continue to love your writing, no matter what color your hair becomes.
I can remember years ago the man who cuts my hair would pull out the few gray hairs.fast forward 20 years.I am blessed with great hair (runs in family)cut short, thick , natural wave and a gray that people always say they wish theirs looked like mine. Forgive my bragging but at nearly 76 you got to give yourself a shout out when you can.loved picture of geese.
Thanks for the chuckle, Connie. I started losing my hair when my baby was born. Since that was nearly 40 years ago, I'm pretty sure it's not coming back. I used to have your thick hair, but hormones can have that effect. I blame my dad for the male balding pattern (sorry, dad). I've gotten to the point where I don't even notice it, unless I see a photo of myself. No matter the angle, I've got this huge balding patch on my crown. Somehow, it seems to glow brightly in photographs.
Hair loss aside, I stopped coloring my hair after my son's wedding in 2010. I found my first gray hair at age 16, and it was lo-o-o-ong, so I was ready for my hair to lean hard into the gray category. Instead, it's gone gradually salt-n-pepa (sorry, had to) and now, 13 years later, it's still more dark than gray. So, fewer hairs, but a color I can live with.
Do you love your hair color (post-salon)? Then it's perfect. I'll never tug on yours and I expect the same courtesy. ;)
Some days it’s just personal!! And we love that! Because no matter the fighting in DC, we all have daily lives to work our way through. And we’d prefer to look our best doing it 😎
Thanks for sharing all of this!! I was at my hairdresser’s today also, and she never lets me down!
I was following a car that had the vanity plate "I'm Nasty" I tried to think of all the possibilities that would evolve to this end. I ended up feeling sad for the driver.
I started getting gray hair in high school. By the time I was 36, I was dyeing it in earnest. I’m a couple of years younger than you. My husband wouldn’t care if I let my hair go gray. BUT, until a year ago, my MIL was still dyeing hers. I always said when she went gray, I’d think about it. I’m still thinking about it.
Dear Ms. Schultz,
We have a 6-degrees of separation relationship. Your MIL was one of my grandmother's "besties." My grandmother was Helen Mulholland. I spent much of the 1st year of my life as a resident in the "Model Home" at Kent State. My mother was a Home Economics major at the time, and received special permission so that she did not have to live in the Model Home because she was married & had an infant. This meant that she had to be at The Home from only 6am - 12am. (Please, God, let that place no longer exist! Not the major in Home Ec, just the requirement that women live in a "Model home" for any period of time. My best to you and your husband, Melinda S. Warner (Yep. Maura Casey did work for my father after he left the Akron-Beacon Journal and moved to the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune. Like I said - 6 degrees...)
My 83y.o. Mom is currently in "a rehab facility," (aka 1 step shy of a nursing home). Seeing the pictures with the captions you included made her laugh. This could be the only one she's gotten in the past week. I am a regular reader of yours, grateful now for both your pix & your words.
Connie! You make my heart smile and my face to host a full-on giggle! I live on the backwaters of Auglaize River in NW Ohio and love my waterfowls. I will say that in 20+ years I have never seen a duck (or goose) raise a "misplaced" feather in my direction. Thank you for showing the true colors of the happy geese, adorable rubber duckie and providing a reminder that in spite of the naughty fingers, foul feathers or filth-promoting flags, it is up to us to show the "colors" we choose! As for me, I have some gray, but if I were to dabble in a change of color, it might be a nice true blue.
As a new devotee of Louise Penny’s books, I can only say you’re lucky you didn’t run into Rosa. That duck is very rude.
You are hilarious. I, too, have spent more money than I care to admit on keeping the gray at bay in my hair. I love your essays! I also will be voting for and supporting your husband!
I just love this. I waited all day to read it so I could focus and enjoy it. I love when you arrive in my inbox!
"I love it when you arrive in my inbox." It's really like that, isn't it?! It's like Connie (all of her, not just her words) really did just pop up in your inbox for a neighborly chat.
You bring me joy, every time.
I do so love the way you write, Connie, and the way you think, and the way your thoughts often take a sharp turn into a serendipitous curve . . . that I can follow. Not sure what that says about me or about you. But I like it. You seem a bit sillier in this space, a bit freer to ramble -- but enough of a professional to know how to be done. I haven't quite figured that out.
The gray hair thing is such a dilemma. In my family, we all start going white (not gray) in our 30s, thanks to my my Irish/English mom. She refused to color her hair, preferring, she claimed, to be the woman about whom people said, "Look at the young woman with all that white hair," rather than "Look at the old woman dyeing her hair - who does she thinks she's fooling!" My oldest sister, a college professor, followed her lead. The next oldest sister and I, both in business (she her own landscape business, me in corporate life) persisted in dyeing our hair because we refused to be dismissed, which is what seemed to happen with woman of no-color-hair. The day I retired at 67, I stopped getting my hair dyed. It didn't take long to go all white since I keep short hair. I amuse myself cajoling my hairdresser into putting a couple of blue or purple streaks in it for my birthday month. He resists because he comes from a multi-generational Italian salon family, and old ladies don't do silly stuff like that. But he likes me and I like him, so he tolerates me. Hair is one of those things that (mostly) grows back, so why not be silly with it? I do envy you your hair. You do have scads of it, and it's gorgeous, dyed or undyed. I think you'd be an amazing white-haired force of nature.
I support going gray!!! During Covid I began the process. It turns out it's white with with underlying shades of black! I don't know how that happened. The secret is a really nice chic hair do. I have a short bob.
I have to pay for black streaks if I want them. They make white hair much more interesting. Lucky you!
I agree with Beth totally…really look forward to these. I’m also almost finished with The Daughters of Erietown and am enjoying that as well, tho there’s so much sadness there.
Re hair, I, too, have thick hair that takes a long time to color, so my trips to the salon are quite long as well! But my color guy and I are growing old together and I feel like half the staff are friends of mine at this point, so my forays there are always mostly pleasureable…I bring my Ipad so I can read, bec I can’t wear my reading glasses lest they get full of hair color!
And I am grateful for my thick hair, as I’m over 70 now and many of my friends have found their hair has gotten a lot thinner. My daughter tells me to stop coloring it, because what’s the point? I’m old, give it up!
I say, “Rage, rage, against the dying of the light!” My hair, my body, my life! And I love wearing warm colors…grey hair is definitely winter. Not for me, not yet!
I have a cousin who is a year older than me. She colored her hair for years (she had the time and the money to do it, but it wasn’t fooling anyone.) Then one time, about 5 years ago, we got together again and she was completed gray! I made some comment about her going natural. She gave me this look of pure contentment and said, “It’s so liberating!” She was about 60 at the time and has embraced her gray ever since.
I have never colored my hair. Never seemed important to me. It goes along with the fact that I haven’t worn makeup for decades. I decided people can like, for me. (I also get some satisfaction knowing I have saved a ton of money along the way.)
It matters not to me what others choose. I am content with my choices, and content to let others live as they please.
I love your writings! Look forward to them in my feed. And I’m sure I would continue to love your writing, no matter what color your hair becomes.
Thank you, Linda. I admire your insistence on being yourself.
I can remember years ago the man who cuts my hair would pull out the few gray hairs.fast forward 20 years.I am blessed with great hair (runs in family)cut short, thick , natural wave and a gray that people always say they wish theirs looked like mine. Forgive my bragging but at nearly 76 you got to give yourself a shout out when you can.loved picture of geese.
You have great hair, Christine. That is not bragging. It’s a fact.