In honor of Hailey

As many of you know, the little girl of our friends, Mark and Shauna Trainer, earned her angel wings last November.  She fought a seriously aggressive form of brain cancer and when her body was no longer able to fight she went to be with Jesus. 

Hailey Ann was a beautiful little girl whose name meant Gracious Hero.  

Isn't she beautiful?

And a Hero she was to all who knew her.  She fought a long fight and amidst her illness brought much love and joy to those that knew her... those near and far...  and most of all, she brought joy to our God...  In her short, but meaningful life she brought so many closer to Him.

She truly is a Gracious Hero.

My sister, Julie, and I have made the decision to grow our hair out in order to make a donation to Locks of Love in honor of Hailey.

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hair pieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under the age of 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.  

If you've known anyone fighting cancer, then you've probably also known someone who received Chemotherapy as a treatment for their illness.  While Chemotherapy can be successful in fighting cancer cells it also destroys hair cells resulting in hair loss.   

As my sister and I discussed donating our hair, we discussed the sadness that little girls and boys must feel as they lose their hair.  Hair defines the "looks" of an individual to a certain degree.  I mean people pay big bucks for a certain look when it comes to their hair... cutting, coloring, straightening, perming, styling, extensions, technology for hair growth in the event they are losing it, hair products of all different types, hair accessories, and the list goes on and on... your hair is important to your confidence.  As we reminisced on the many different hairstyles we had as little girls, we decided that growing our hair and donating it to another child was the simplest way to give back.  And hopefully this "simple way" will be more than simple when making a boy or girl feel good about themselves.

We are excited about this opportunity!  We are excited to be able to give back to other children in honor of such a sweet little girl... and we are excited about sharing love and joy with another little boy or girl as they receive a new hairpiece, just as Hailey shared love and joy with all who knew her.

Locks of Love has specific requirements on receiving hair donations.  One requirement is that the donation must be 10-12 inches in length.  It takes a minimum of 10 inches to design a nice hairpiece.  12 inches, of course, would result in a longer hairpiece.  My hair is longer than Julie's so I will probably be waiting on her a bit towards the end.  As to how long it will take... we are unsure, but we are in for the duration. 

We are very excited and will be keeping you posted.  If you'd like to join us, that would be great!  Leave me a comment and we can connect.

Here is a picture of me and my little sister, Julie Anne.

And here is our "before" picture. 

Inches to grow... in honor of Hailey! : )

And in case you haven't yet had the privilege to hear the story of Hailey, the Gracious Hero, I have posted a few postings about her in the past... you can read about her here, here, and here.  You can also visit her CaringBridge site here; her mother does a great job of sharing her story.

She was beautiful.  Her heart was precious and abounded with love and joy. 

Thank you, God, for Hailey's sweet life.