Ray Hollister Just what the world needed, someone else's opinion.

The real reason why I’m a “long-haired hippie freak”

My friend, Grace Gilbert, was diagnosed with liver and colon cancer back in 2004 when she was in high school. It was a long struggle, but she began doing well and the cancer went into remission. However, in 2007, when she was a sophomore in college, her cancer came back out of remission. She also started losing her hair because of a change in her medicine. So, she decided that she was going to shave her head.

To show Grace how much we loved her, ACCESS218, the Christian college group that I belonged to, decided to have a head shaving, hair cutting party to support her. A bunch of guys shaved their heads with her, and a couple of girls cut their pony tails and donated them to Locks of Love. I was planning on shaving my head, also. This which was a fairly normal routine for me; I used to get a buzz cut about every 3-4 months. However, Grace told me how beautiful she thought my hair was, and she said that I should grow it out. So, I told her that I would. Now, almost three years later, I have a 7 inch long pony tail, which isn't too bad considering I have very curly hair, and I started out almost bald.

Unfortunately, Grace passed away later that same year. I often think about her when I am spending the extra 15 minutes every morning that this heap of hair takes to make it look professional! I really don’t mind it too much because thinking of her, reminds me to live every moment to the fullest and make sure that the people I love know that I love them, because that is how she lived.

I was planning on cutting my pony tail and donating it, but after reading a lot of negative criticism about Locks of Love, I decided to sell my hair once it is long enough and give the money to Grace's favorite charity, Dreams Come True.

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