Hey you with the blonde hair,

I’ve thought about you a lot. When I’m self-conscious or my neck is cold, your smile flashes through my head. So I would like to thank you.

My hair was always a safety net. Whenever I felt like I looked rough or my day was headed in the wrong direction, I could always fiddle with my hair. Pull it in front of my face, braid it, or make it nice as a distraction. Even when I would cut my hair to my shoulders I never felt as naked as my senior year of college. As tough as this adjustment has been, I will never regret sending you all thirteen inches of my hair.

I found that cutting it so short made me feel confident and pretty, at least until other people saw it.

In high school my sister Meredith cut her hair so short she could have a Mohawk every day of the week. Awesome right? The kids at our high school didn’t think so. She was suddenly seen as no longer feminine to the boys. Her sexuality was discussed in the hallways and others mistook her for a boy from behind. It was tough to see her go through this and I stood up to people whenever I heard rumblings, but at the end of the day, it all landed on her. Luckily, she’s a badass. Meredith takes no crap from anyone and would pick you up on any tough day you had and probably beat down anyone you pointed to. If you got her hair you’re lucky, hopefully, you’ll find some of her superpowers in those lovely locks. 7 years later Mere says “I don’t regret donating my hair, just how short I cut it.”

I was twenty-one and a senior in college that all of a sudden felt like a fifteen-year-old. I felt like all eyes were watching me and questioning me.

There are so many ads in the world about growing out your hair fast, having longer and stronger locks, and millions of images on social media tagged #hairgoals that are longer still. Somehow, femininity has become tied to the length of your hair. There’s a constant pressure that if you don’t have hair to your butt you need to try this new Kardashian endorse pill to fix it. I’ve also heard enough about Mane and Tail to last me a lifetime. At one point a girl even told me to start taking prenatal vitamins. I’d gone against the normal and now I need to fix myself.

To be honest, the most hurtful comments came from my dad. He was trying to toughen me up or say it to my face before I heard from someone else, but that doesn’t change the sting I felt when he called me a dyke on more than one occasion.

I began to really worry that I had made a huge mistake.

That’s when I thought about you.

I don’t know your name, what you look like, or anything about you at all for that matter. What I did know was that you were no doubt stronger than me at this moment.

Every day you wake up and put on a brave face. You tune out others and keep your smile shining. Your confidence is probably so high that you could make it to any star in the sky. The self-love you must feel every day would cause tsunamis in time with your beating heart.

Whenever you have those bad days, you have me. When you are down, I will lift you up. My hair will give you hugs around your neck until you sweat, it will shine when you feel dull, and always tickle your nose when a breeze blows.

It’s no longer my hair, but our hair. With it, I send a little heads up knowledge!

Our hair changes colors in the sun, so get some fresh air and see how blonde you’ll become.

I’m sure you’ve definitely learned how quick it gets greasy so be sure to wash daily.

Our hair is stubbornly straight, it will curl, but prepare to use a good amount of hairspray.

If you ever decide to put temporary Halloween hairspray or hair chalk in, it will come out. Eventually. You may have grey hair for a couple days, but I’m sure you’ll rock it.

Finally, it gets tangled really easily so brush from the bottom and work your way up.

I hope you love our hair as much as my mom and dad did. I promise donation number 6 is in the works. Thank you for everything.