The Return of the Superman Curl

For the last 12 - 13 years, I have had long hair. Obviously in the beginning it wasn't long, but when all was said and done, my hair reached the mid point of my upper arm. Growing it out was awkward, and because I have naturally curly hair, I sometimes had curls sticking out from odd angles. I had one curl in particular that very similar to the c-shaped curl that went down the center of Superman's forehead. My curl was-more-or-less in the same location and usually in my eyes. Danno nicknamed it "The Superman Curl".

I haven't been happy with my hair for the last year and the unhappiness grew with each passing month.  My hair was a magnet for feathers, food bits and whatever else was floating in the air. No lie, last week a butterfly got caught within my mangled mane. If I wore it down, hair got somehow caught in my bra strap, and if I wore it up, the hair would get tangled or wrapped tightly within the scrunchie that I sometimes had to trim the hair out. When I slept at night, I often woke up because I had shifted to some position that caused my hair to pull down on my head, extending my neck.

I was also becoming rather unhappy with the increasing silver that was popping up uninvited on my scalp. Seriously. My mom pretty much had salt and pepper hair by the time she was 40, and I'm going to be the big Four-O later this summer. My hair is rapidly heading in the same direction, and I just can't deal with it.

I scheduled an appointment with my cousin-in-law (if the person is a cousin by marriage, does that make them your cousin-in-law?) who is a hairdresser, for a cut and color. I saw her last Saturday and it was an adventure for me. Beyond the occasional trim, I have not had my hair cut in over 12 years. She gathered my hair up in one hand and with scissors in the other hand, asked me if I was absolutely sure I wanted to cut it off. Yes. Are you really sure? Yes, yes and yes. She then told me she has been witness to cutters remorse, where the person receiving the cut regretted giving her permission to chop the long hair.  Nope, not me. I had no second thoughts or regrets after she made the initial cut.

We discussed hair colors and she pasted my hair with a smelly white concoction and left me to percolate for about 35 minutes before returning to wash and then fine tune the haircut. When all was said and done, my hair was "medium brown" and curled just above my shoulders.

I didn't realize just how miserable I was with my hair's appearance until I looked at the new me in the mirror. I knew I was unhappy, but the depth of that emotion surprised me sitting there in that chair Saturday afternoon.

I returned home and after Danno made the appropriate oohhs and ahhs, he paused and looked at my forehead before saying "Your Superman curl is back."

Welcome back Superman curl; your presence has been long overdue.