Should I Color Away My Experiences?

My hair is going gray. There is no way around this, it's in my genes. My mother had a full head of gray hair by the time she was my age, as seen in this picture when Jeff was born. I at least am not that bad, but I am going gray. Here's the thing though, it's not really bothering me. I know it should, especially being a hairdresser, but it doesn't. I earned all of those grays on top of my  head, one by one. Should I just color away all of those life experiences?

I think I got my first gray hair at the age of 19, when Jeff was launched off the water bed as a baby. Ya, I've made reference to this before. Water beds. Who thought of those sloshy contraptions? You plop your but down on one side and create a tidal wave on the other. When your 6 month old baby is on the receiving end of said tidal wave it can only end in disaster. I learned very quickly that day just how fast a head bump can swell to amazingly huge proportions. Gray hair.

There were more to follow. Jeff in the hospital for three days with a HUGE staff infection on his face. Postpartum depression with Jessica. Jeff having bike accidents with bloody teeth, Jess flying off neighbors swings gushing blood and needing stitches.... why is there so much blood with kids?

Then the big one hit. I think I earned a large amount of my gray hairs the day we learned that Aaron had cancer. Thyroid cancer. It is supposedly the most  curable cancer there is, but when you hear the "C" word.... I just can't explain. We had a HUGE support group at the time and our friends and family really helped us through. It really is the tragedies in life that remind you of how blessed you are for sure, but the gray hairs remain.

More experiences over the years have brought in more silver highlights. Putting kids though school, never an easy task. I have done more homework since I have graduated than I ever did in school. Helping kids through brake-ups, getting them to do their chores and teaching them to drive the stick shift. Boy howdy, I got quite a few sitting in that passenger seat!

I got another huge handful the day my father died in a car accident. Taking care of my mother and his. Keeping tabs on my only sister. Comforting my children. What a busy year that was. I couldn't not have survived without Aaron for sure.

Here is my point. I can sit down and talk to each one of you who reads this and each one of you would have a list like I do. Let's face it, life is tough sometimes. But, it's the experiences in your life that make you who you are. It shapes your personality, strengthens your relationships and gives you insight and wisdom you wouldn't have otherwise.

I am wearing my experiences on my head. Each one has a strand in my hair to remind me of what I have learned. They have shaped me into the person I am today, inside and out. I will continue to wear those experiences with pride. I have admittedly put two highlights in the front of my hair to blend those experiences in a bit, but they are not hidden. Maybe, someday when the silver of my experiences outnumber the blonds of my ignorance I will think differently, but for now, I am happy with showing them for the world to see.