Going Silver: How Mom Motivated Me
In my first post on going silver, I mentioned that I did not come to this realization on my own. That I was inspired by people like Cindy Joseph (Boom by Cindy Joseph). Cindy made me start thinking and reflecting on how gracefully my Mother went from red hair to almost a blondish look and now silver. Interestingly, when Mom and I are out-and-about, people who do not know us would ask if we are sisters. I know, it isn’t exactly a compliment for how I am handling the aging phase, but it is a huge compliment for my Mother. And, she’s done this without coloring her hair, by staying true to who she is, by not hiding from reality. Check out the picture of us above – it was taken the summer of 2011. Please note, that I have only high/low lighted my hair, so I’ve always let the silver shine a bit. I did that purposely and honestly, I think gray roots are nasty looking, so I never wanted to be in the position of having to worry about a solid line of them. Enough about that, doesn’t my Mom look great?!
Here’s the progression for my Mom starting with her 50th bday in 1993:
This picture shows how red her hair really was:
And, this picture was taken ten years later:
I find it fascinating to look back and see the shades of grey as both my Mom and I have aged and I hope you do, too! We need to celebrate aging … just think about how many people would jump out of their graves if they had the chance to live longer. Just sayin’!
Interestingly, my Mom has had hairdressers tell her – DO NOT COLOR YOUR HAIR. There are women who PAY to get the color you have right now. Hm. That really made me pause and think. Also, as we age, our skin color changes along with our hair and I really think it looks better when the two match or compliment each other. Of course, that’s my opinion. But, think about that when you see someone who is older and colors their hair. Really study their face and how the hair frames it. Is it harsh? Does it look natural? Once I started looking at silver hair with a new perspective, I started realizing that I wanted to try it. And now I’m a year into my new look. I will start sharing some photos of that conversion process in my next few posts. Stay tuned! 🙂