I knew I would be losing all my hair since the day chemo was first mentioned. I knew some people get very emotional over the loss of their hair…and I knew I would fall in that category. I have been praised for my beach wavy hair all 26 years of my life. It hid my egg shaped head and overly wide cheekbones. It was the part of me that made me feel the most beautiful.

I was surprised that after 3 sessions of chemo, my hair was still intact! Maybe I had dodged the bullet of hair loss. But then one day in the shower during week 5, fistfuls of hair were slipping out with my shampoo.

I called all my friends… “Hey want to do something crazy with me? Want to shave my hair off tomorrow?”

My friends, sister, and her 4 month old baby came over. I stepped into a garbage bag in my bathroom to keep the hair from littering my clothes. They each chose a dream hairstyle they wanted to carve into my hair. And one at a time, each one took their turn of shaving a different hair style.

My three-foot mane went to an edgy undercut bob, then Skrillex, to mohawk, and soul patch… on the top of my head. I have never cried harder during my cancer journey than I did at that moment. I’m thankful those tears that came hardest were out of pure entertainment by making me the butt end of the joke.

With cancer, I’ve learned that you get more creative to find the happier moments in life. Sure, the events are terribly dark and all have potential to be terribly sad. But plan ahead to make each day and moment extra creative to make you happy. It takes a team effort but in the long run when you look back at your painful journey, it will be glittered with love and joy. Light shines brightest in the darkest places.

By Alice Moon