The Coming Adventures of a Soon-to-be Baldie

The current state of my hairs.

I’m going to be in Chicago 5 days from this very moment getting ready for the Donna’s Good things St. Baldrick’s event. Then I’mma be bald shortly after that. Yikes.

Not to mention all of the awesome peoples I’ll be meeting! I should totally be more nervous about it, but for some reason I’m not. Maybe it will suddenly hit me once I’m sitting in that chair, clippers buzzing behind me. Maybe not.

For those of you who don’t know about it (shame on you), St. Baldrick’s is a charity that raises funds for pediatric cancer research. They hold events all over the country in any city or town where someone wants to stand up and make a difference in the lives of many. St. Baldrick’s gives a shit-ton of money to the people in charge of finding treatments and hopefully one day a cure, for pediatric cancers.

Donna’s Good Things has teamed up with St. Baldrick’s for an amazing event in Chicago on Saturday. See, what St. Baldrick’s does is raise money by shaving people’s heads. Well, the foundation doesn’t do that, volunteers do that. People can volunteer to have their heads shaved and to shave heads and to help out in whatever way they can at these “Shave-a-thons”. They hold the events at pubs and restaurants and fun, social-type places and people are welcome to come and watch and donate more money to the brave souls who are going bald by choice.

Doesn’t that sound crazy?! People just deciding that they WANT to be bald. Just to stand in solidarity with kids fighting cancer. To show those kids that someone cares and wants to let them know that they are not alone. Crazy to some, inspiring to others.

These guys rock!

And we are in such amazing company, too! Since signing up to be a shavee for St. Baldrick’s, people have been coming out of the woodwork with their stories of going bald for St. Baldrick’s (here’s one from Mackenzie of Bright Strange Things who went bald in September!) and people with the stories of their incredibly brave kids who have been fighting for their lives against that cursed beast; cancer.  These people all have stories to tell about how cancer has affected their lives. Some stories are made of twists and turns and recovery and some of tragedy and sadness, but all have one thing in common: Hope.

That is what St. Baldrick’s gives people. That is why my husband and I and so many others have chosen to go bald by choice. Four days from today, I will be on my way to Chicago to start this adventure and I couldn’t be more excited.

Mary Tyler Mom

There’s the most incredible group of people who will be changing their lives with me at the shave-a-thon- Oh em gee! So many awesome people to meet for the first time in person! There’s going to be the obvious, Mary Tyler Mom, whose daughter, Donna, is the reason for the event and the reason I am involved at all. Again, if you don’t know about Donna, (shame on you) you should get to know a bit about her and her lovely mother by reading Donna’s Cancer Story here.

We’ll also be meeting Katy of I want a Dumpster Baby, Deb of The Monster in Your Closet; who also joined mine and Chris’s team to have her head shaved AND who is flying all the way from L.A! (Awesome!) Also there will be Nikki of Moms Who Drink and Swear (Seriously!) and so many other amazing, wonderful people that I’ve met since starting my fb page. A lovely woman named Shannon and her wife are coming all the way from Georgia!

So excited and happy and nervous and blessed! We are all so lucky to have this opportunity, thanks to the inspiration we found through Mary Tyler Mom and Donna. My life is so much richer just knowing them all on facebook! Getting to meet them in person and experiencing something like this right along side them is going to push my gratitude levels off the charts! My head just might explode from all the joy!

Yep.

Being able to do something like this and really make a difference is just amazing to me. I feel so overwhelmed with emotions that I can’t even express properly. Just know that this is a life-changing thing for me; and not just because I’m going to be bald.

I am 36 years old and the only good thing I’ve ever done is become a mom; and I’m not even very good at that. But this- this event is HUGE. I am raising money that will go directly to fund research for children’s cancer. This will help others. Many others. That is amazing to me. And no amount of hair is going to ever mean as much to me as what this event will mean to so many people.

You can still help make this event even more amazing by donating your money, time, and/or resources. Donate directly to my team, Blissfully Bald, here. If you want to join the team and get your head shaved, it’s not too late. If you live in or near Chicago, you can always come down to the Candlelite and volunteer your time. You can come and be there to support me and 40 other brave, wonderful people who will be bald by the end of the day.

Bring tissues. I’m sure we won’t have enough for all the crying that is sure to take place. Not over our lost locks though, the tears will be coming from the joy and excitement of the day and from the sadness of the memory of the little girl who inspired it all. It seems so unfair that the only way most of us can know Donna is through memories shared by the people who were graced by her short time here. Her beautiful parents and their friends and family.

Sweet Donna.

I think of her her often, and I never met her in this life. Imagine how her family feels to have lost such a shining, glorious girl.
Let’s make a difference. Let’s make sure there are fewer families missing their babies because of cancer. You can donate and find other ways to help here.

Oh, and let’s go shopping for awesome hats and scarves and other head gear! Summer’s coming, and I do not want to know what it’s like to have a sunburnt scalp!

Joyously awaiting the 24th!
~Karin