365 Things to Smile About Day 200. A Needed Compliment!

One of the things that bothered me when my hair grew back in was that it wasn't the same shade.  I know...big deal!  It came back in!  That was what I was praying for every day since it started to fall out!  I know this sounds silly and more than a bit vain but I loved my original hair.  It was a perfect gold color.  My mom use to hold it next to her gold wedding ring to show the comparison of the two colors and I kinda loved that.  It was fine, thick, gold hair!

I was so afraid when I was bald of my hair coming back in differently.  You hear all these stories of people's hair growing back in completely different colors and textures and thickness.  And I loved my original hair color and wanted it back.  But I think, more importantly, I wanted something to go back to normal.  Something to be the same that it was before because so much was never going to be the same.  And my hair came back in blonde...but a darker blond with more red in it.  As it is getting longer it is lightening up more but to my eyes (and many other eyes) I am a strawberry blonde now...with darker tones.  I'm so thrilled my hair is still fine and thick and growing nice and long and I'm learning to like the shade but it isn't the same.  It isn't gold anymore.  It changed like everything else.

Then today, I was at a pharmacy waiting in line to drop off a prescription and the man in front of me kept turning around and staring at me.  At first I was a little uncomfortable.  Finally he asked me if I had anything in my hair.  I said no and he looked at my hair again and then just stared at it and said that it looked shiny.  Then he said it looked shiny and gold!  Which of course prompted the question of wether it was my natural color.  As crazy as it sounds, in that moment I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my heart!  Someone thought my hair was gold!  Lol!  I thanked him for his compliment and assured him it was my natural hair color.  He kept looking at my hair for a little longer repeating it looked really gold.  It did become a little uncomfortable after a bit and I was glad when he turned his attention to something else but I was also still really thrilled!!  My hair is FINALLY becoming gold again!!!  It's finally getting back to it's normal color.  Wether anyone else sees it or not...at least one person saw it and gave me the compliment I needed to not let this small, seemingly insignificant thing bother me so much anymore!

So thank you to the man at the pharmacy who unknowingly told me that at least one thing, no matter how small, is finally coming back to how it was before cancer and chemo.  Maybe it won't be the exact shade again...but close enough that it looks gold again!   Thank you!!