For thirty years or more, I have had my hair cut, colored, and, on occasion, permed by Chi Chi. Yes, that is her name. No, it is not a nickname. When asked what her middle name is she will tell you Chi. Her first name is Chi. Her middle name is Chi. She goes by both. When asked why, she just smiles, shrugs her shoulders and says, "I don't know." It fits her perfectly. She is as unique as her name.
Certainly, I have never been a once-a-week client of hers. Truth be told, I try to go as seldom as possible. Periodically, she tells me that I do not make my hair a priority. Now, if during a deep and theological discussion (I have so many of those ~ really, I'm kidding) my minister said I wasn't committed to my hair, I might feel quite puffed up with righteousness. When it is the very person who cuts and colors my hair who says it, I could feel deflated with dowdiness. But, Chi Chi says it with no judgment. She just works to give me a haircut where I do not have to put my hair on my priority list. I greatly appreciate that.
Over thirty years, between us we have buried parents and siblings. We have had weddings. She is the only reason that I looked remotely put together on both my son's and daughter's weddings. My daughter was married on a Thursday. Chi Chi fixed my hair. She would have been at the shop anyway. My son married on a Saturday. Chi Chi met me very early that morning to fix my hair. She genuinely cared that I looked nice for those weddings. She even convinced me to use hairspray those two days. When I look at the pictures and see how nice my hair looks in them, I think a little thank you to Chi Chi.
I have had a lot of hairstyles over the past thirty years. Once, I had my friend, Marlene give me a perm. I was trying to save money, and my hair was stringy and messy and I thought a perm would really perk me up. Marlene is an educator. She is not a hair stylist. She is not a barber. As far as I know, she has never even watched a video on how to give a good perm. How hard could it be? What were we thinking? She got out the assorted colored perm rods and began to roll my hair. We debated as to whether it mattered if the same size rods were aound the front or not. We decided, erroneously, I might add, that it did not matter. We discussed if hair sticking out not wrapped around the rod would make a difference. We decided, erroneously, I might add, that it would be no problem. Marlene confidently put the solution on my poorly rolled hair. We set the timer. We visited and talked about our children as time ticked away. When the timer went off, the neutralizer was put on; more time to wait; the rods were removed. Can you say, Harpo Marx?? After a frantic phone call to Chi Chi, and many dollars later, improvement was accomplished. Lesson learned....or was it?
I used to frost my hair myself. Mr. Lincoln would pull the strands through the cap with a plastic hook. Wowser, did that ever hurt. Mr. Lincoln is a lawyer. He is not a hair stylist. He is not a barber. But, I must say that he did a fairly decent job frosting my hair. Chi Chi was never insulted that I let him do it. She knew I was trying to save money. If I had only stuck with Mr. Lincoln. There was the day that I was feeling in a bit of a funk. One should never make important hair decisions when in a funk. I decided that I could not wait for Mr. Lincoln. I decided to just use the hair color on my hair without pulling it through a cap. I am not generally that impulsive, but there was that funk aspect to my day. I proceed to put color on certain strands of hair, pile them on top of my head, set the timer, panic that perhaps this was not my best plan, wash the color out, and as I sat rocking in a chair in front of a mirror weeping, MP came in (she was very little) and said, "Don't cwy, Mommy. You wook just wike Cindy Wauper." Can you hear wailing? Well, you guessed it, after a frantic call to Chi Chi and many dollars later, my hair was a lovely array of perfectly streaked golden strands. Okay, lesson learned!!!
Over the years I have taken her pictures of Meg Ryan, Faith Hill, Jennifer Anniston, Charlize Theron, and more recently, Diane Keaton for possible hair styles. I applaud her restraint in not saying, "I can cut your hair like this, but you realize, you still are not going to look like Charlize Theron, right?" I wonder if hair stylists just hate it when clients bring in pictures of what they want to look like. They know the client hasn't a prayer of pulling off that look. On occasion, Chi Chi has said to me, "you know if you have this cut, you can't just blow it dry and go." She was so proud of me when I started using a little mousse on my hair that you would have thought I had discovered the cure for cancer.
Over thirty years, Chi Chi and I have discussed lots of things. She knows what supplements to take to make your skin better or your hair shinier. She knows all about every kind of plastic surgery, botox, and laser procedures. She loves her daughters. She loves her grandchildren. She has more friends than you can imagine. She loves God and conducts her business in a fair and ethical way. She knows the details of her clients' lives. She cares about them. She loves chocolate. She cannot hide when she is down, and yet, even in the midst of her pain, she cares about her clients' hair. She struggles with her computer. She loves to scrapbook. She has worked long hours, long days, and long weeks "doing" hair since she was in high school. After 50 years of working, she is retiring. She is getting married to a man who I hope treats her wonderfully. He sounds like a really sweet man. She deserves the time and the rest. She deserves to be able to go see her children and grandchildren. She deserves to travel. Her future husband loves to travel. She deserves to have time for her scrapbooking. I hope she finds great joy in this stage of her life. I will miss her.
When I was there this week, she asked me how much I wanted cut off my hair. I said, "about 2 months' worth." Now, where am I going to find someone who knows what that means? I also told her to make it a good cut because it had to last until I die. She laughed. I hope she knows that I greatly appreciate her. I hope she knows that, not only will I miss her hair expertise, I will miss her. I will miss her shining eyes. I will miss her great laugh. I will miss her quiet voice. I will miss her genuine concern for my appearance. I will miss my good hair days. I will be grateful for the thirty plus year walk with her.
So for today, I wish you a great hair day, memorable people in your life, and
blessings
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