Barb and husband Earl at her son’s wedding in September 2016
Lessons from a Wig From Loss Comes an Unexpected Benefit I Couldn't See By Judy Brunelli, Polidori’s Salon, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania It was a Sunday afternoon in midDecember last year. I was fighting a sinus headache while pondering the battles my friend fought while styling her wig for the first and last time. She passed away the previous Friday. We met more than seven years ago. The day Barbara came into my studio, she had learned her cancer had returned. Not only that, but she had received her port and the first round of chemo the same day. In more than 30 years of working with cancer patients, this was a first. One thing I have learned about this disease is that the faster the treatment begins the worse the diagnosis usually is. She had long, rich, naturally brown hair. Her son was getting married in a few months and she wanted to be sure she had beautiful hair for the event. She was not frightened like many women I'd met in less pressing circumstances.
And then she started teaching me some valuable life lessons. How to deal with loss: She had hope and that hope was deeper than her hair. She wanted to live another day and see her son get married. She also wanted to have a human hair wig that was at least 12 inches long, made with her own hair as she was going to lose it through chemo. This complicated things because the amount of hair needed for this specific wig's length and volume would require more than she had. She would need to find donors. Not only was this an unusual request, but it was also costly as well. Faith in the fire: She had a deep religious faith and belief things would work out in her favor. And it did. A man she worked for was willing to cover the $1,700 cost of the wig. I had no leads at that time on such an item, but we struck up such a friendship that I wanted to be a part of her journey. CONTINUED ON PAGE 33 THE LINK MAGAZINE
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