Sands of Time

Time marches on, like sand through the hourglass. I was reminded this week of the passage of time in my own life. About a year ago, I was combing my hair and was struck with horror as I realized I had a bald spot on the crown of my head--about the size of a half dollar. When did that happen?! It had come silently on cat's paws. While I took meticulous care to be sure the spot was covered by combed over hair, I faced the impending reality that if this condition progressed my pride would be gone and I would have to accept the fact that my head may be exposed to the world.

I did a bit of research about this condition. I began with a term that I have learned in my medical transcription, and sure enough, the definition of alopecia seemed to accurately describe my condition. Sometimes it is brought on by the presence of an autoimmune disease and sometimes it is the result of experiencing trauma. I knew that I had indeed experienced a traumatic event and hoped this was the cause rather than an autoimmune disease. For some reason hair growth stops and it may or may not be restored, but if it does it will take as much as a year to get new growth.

Oh well,life goes on. I decided since there wasn't much I could do about it, I would just tolerate it. At first I was very self conscious about it. I especially did not like to be caught outdoors in the wind. So what did I do a couple months later? I went to Wood Badge and spent most of a week outdoors with about 65 other people. No big deal. Actually I only thought of it occasionally, but I was glad to have a hat.


As is obvious in this picture, I was not always successful in keeping my head covered; but that was then and this is now. Over the last few weeks I have realized that the bald spot is not as noticeable. In its place is a patch of gray hair, however thin.


This experience has certainly put things in perspective for me. Today when I look in the mirror, I can see quite a few more gray hairs than I had a couple years ago. I can say that those have come on gradually, and my children can probably each count the ones that they helped put there. I did not think that I would be grateful for gray hair. I now just consider the alternative and count my blessings