Who would've guessed that all this was underneath that brown hair dye? People ask me why I stopped coloring my hair. I'll tell you. It was when I had to wear a hat while we were exploring in Alaska. I thought how foolish it was to have to worry about my roots showing when I should have just been enjoying myself! So much time was spent over the years rearranging my hair appointments based on when I had events coming up. So much energy spent thinking about my hair color. Not any more. It's so freeing!

I don't regret coloring my hair. I was born with brown hair and I loved it. I had fun experimenting with different shades and highlights and lowlights and everything in between black and red. I almost stopped coloring it during COVID when I couldn't get an appointment with a stylist. My dad handed me money to buy box color because I looked too much like my mother, and it made him sad. He said I could stop when he passed. But, I wasn't ready for that when it happened, so I continued. Finally, Alaska healed my heart and my priorities shifted.

It was a challenging transition, and I'll admit that in my mind's eye my hair is still brown. I sometimes don't recognize myself when I pass a mirror or see a picture. I'm learning to love it, though, and I never had as many compliments on my hair when it was brown as I get now that it's silver!