I have a white streak of hair at the base of my neck. It has been there since I was 27. It does not get thicker, nor do I have any other white hairs elsewhere on my body. It was discovered many years ago by a roommate that thought I had leaned against either a very dusty wall or wet paint while wearing my hair in pigtails.
Z has recently discovered it. She loves to stroke it and dig through the rest of my hair to find it. She says that it is powerful. She says that it gives me strength.
Last night, while visiting the grandparents, Z was displaying how powerful she is now that she is finally 4. Her grandmother remarked how incredibly strong that she is and Z nodded. "Yep, I got my white hairs coming in." Of course there were puzzled looks around the room so Z had to put my streak on display for everyone to see.
She is right. My white streak is a symbol of strength and while it does not hold any "secret powers" it does externalize (to me) the strength that I have inside. This white streak appeared at the end of one of the hardest trials of my life. I had been through the wringer to get to that moment of comfort and companionship. I had just started to realize that my family was the family that I built around myself, not just the people with whom I share chromosones and DNA.
My white streak could have been caused by many things. Stress, exhaustion, excessive use of antibiotics when I was younger. I prefer to think that my white streak, and the white streak of so many other women, was created when God decided to make me a mother.
I began going gray VERY early (found my first one at the ripe age of 10). Now that my hair is becoming more silver than dark brown, I'm proud of it. It's a trophy of some sort that says I'm a survivor.
ReplyDeleteYour streak of white IS super powerful. Z is one smart little cookie.