A hairy story

This is a story about my hair.

I always had long hair, medium brown, worn with bangs. When I was of school age I usually had pigtails, then when I was in my teens it was "Cleopatra style". When I was in my late teens, I made some money as a "hair model" for a very well known catalan salon named Cebado. That was around the time that my sister Nuri decided she wanted to become a hair stylist, and she was the one that told me about being a hair model. Sr. Cebado always asked for me because he said I had the perfect hair to style, thick and glossy and good for any style.

Nuri also used me and our mom as hair models to try different techniques she needed to master to get her diploma.

What I am saying is I always had my hair done, and it always looked good. Even when I just washed it and let it dry on its own.

When I married and moved to Dixon, California, I almost never went to a salon. The main reason was I couldn't express myself well in English and I never got any results I was happy with.

After Lizzie was born I started getting gray hairs, lots of them. I remember one time at the Library somebody asked me where I had my hair colored because it looked like I had highlights and they said it looked very nice. Gray hair runs in my family. My grandmother had gray hair, so did my aunt Socorro, and of course, Lizzie. My mother had gray hair but she kept it colored. So did I.

By the time I turned 60, I started to notice my hair thinning, I had what I called a bald spot on my crown, which I tried to keep it covered.

I have to add that I never really learned how to care for my hair, maybe because until the time I came to the US, it always taken care of by my sister or Cebado.

I don't like to go to have my hair done. Is not as bad as going to the dentist but it comes a close second. I don't enjoy having my hair washed, or massaged or cut or styled. It never comes the way I like and I feel tense all the time.

Finally I found a stylist I like in a salon in uptown Whittier called Artika . I always enjoyed the results, but I still had to drag myself to make an appointment. Luckily my hair was still nice and I could just wash and wear and it looked OK.

Until now.

In the last couple of years my hair has thinned down considerably, it's fine and has no body. You can see my scalp. It's horrid! My doctor told me part of it is caused by stress, also maybe some of the medications I take for diabetes, and also because of age. Grrrrr.

I have taken to wear a cap when I go out. Right now my hair is shoulder length and has no shape. I made an appointment at Artika for tomorrow but they had no openings, I will try again for Wednesday.

My stylist, Lauren, said I should lighten it or let it go white and that way it wouldn't show (the scalp) as much as now when is brown.

I don't really want to go all white, and a light color makes my face disappear. So I don't know what to do.

I even looked at wigs, but I know it would bother me having something on my head all the time and it would probably always look askew!

I am open for suggestions.