my brave stylist

shared by shari canete, hIgh school friend

One summer, maybe between sophomore and junior year of high school, while hanging at my house with Anaal, a decision was made that Anaal was going to give me a haircut. Not sure how we came up with that idea, but I trusted I was in good hands. She was confident, and talked like the expert hair stylist you see on tv. And I knew she was an artist with a good eye for what looked good. Sure, I probably did need a haircut. My hair was thick and I always wore it long past my shoulders.

So there we were, in my parents' master bathroom, Anaal chopping away lengths of my hair in front of the mirror. And then, whoa... it was short... with layers, she said. Maybe shorter on one side than the other, oops...

It was definitely short, and different for me. I grew to love it in all its lopsidedness, and eventually kept my hair short for years on after that.

Anaal was my cheerleader (in a Daria kinda way, if any of you recall that classic cartoon back in the day). She dared me to do the things she knew in my heart I wanted to do but never had the courage to do. She gave me that confidence — the confidence to cut my own hair, the confidence to go to a university, and the confidence to know my worth in any endeavor I choose to pursue.

Till this day, I cut my own hair.