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I really enjoy reading the posts on this site. Up until about 10 years ago, I am almost 50, my hair was below my shoulders, and now that it is very short I must admit I miss my long hair! I should add that the reason it is short is because I have a bone and joint disease which is pretty painful at times. When the doctor started me on new medication for it he told me the biggest side effect was hair loss. About 6 weeks after starting it I noticed my eyebrow hair was falling out, and my head hair began to thin a few weeks later. Now, years later, i have very thin, fragile hair and a pretty big bald spot, but my joint disease is being held in check and my pain is very well controlled. I guess I am writing this to say that I am so glad I had long hair at one point in my life. Now, my 21 year old has decided to grow out the layers of his hair. He has thick, very straight hair and the back is to his shoulders, but the layers in the front come to about the bottom of his nose. He would like to grow it long enough so he can tie the very bottom of it off so it just kind of down his back, pulled back at the very bottom. I just can't quite picture what he wants. He has not had a haircut in about 3 months, and that was just a trim of the ends.. He gets tempted at times to cut it, mostly because he parts it on the side and the hair is not long enough to get behind his right ear yet. We just tell him to wait, and be patient. He is currently experimenting with different hair colors. We encourage him to do whatever he wants with his hair. I tell him to have fun with it now while he can. The day may come when he has to have it short for a job and he will never regret that he did not grow it out when he could. When I was growing up my parents would not allow us to have long hair even though I really wanted to grow mine out. They would pull the "as long as you are under this roof" crap. Obviously, in my house the rules are different, and I like to think I pick my battles better than my parents did. Well, I wish you all the best of luck in your hair growth. And a word of advice from someone who lost a lot of his hair to those thinking of growing it out...DO IT! Take it from someone who knows. If you are thinking about growing your hair out, now is the time. If I would not have had long hair, losing my hair would have been much more difficult to deal with. Thanks again for a great website, and best wishes to all of you! C.
Hi Chase,
Reading your monologue was not only sad at first but very true as you put it all in perspective very well.I did grow my hair out after high school and miraculously kept it that way my whole adult life to date.Knock on wood I hope when I depart this world it will be will all my hair still attached to my head.I like to think that this one little aspect of my life can continue to keep me happy.So as you so correctly stated I hope the younger guys take you advice and enjoy longhair when they can. You never know what life will throw at you.I'm sorry to hear about your own health issue but thankfully you are still here to talk about it.Keep the faith:)Cheers
Mark
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Hi Chase,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post here, and want to thank you very much for sharing your story with us.
I couldn't agree more with you re. your advise to all our younger guys to grow your hair out while you can.... Besides the unfortunate illness that you happen to have that caused your hair thinning and loss, there are many different types of illness or accidents that can bring about other hair loss problems -- not to also mention just plain old ordinary Male Pattern Baldness that sets in as we age (depending on one's genetics).
Sounds like we had a very similar upbringing, as when I was a kid i wasn't allowed to grow my hair out, either: my father absolutely forbid me or my brothers from growing our hair out even one inch longer than a military look (my dad was ex-Navy) -- it wasn't until I left home at age 18 that I eventually found out my hair had a natural wave to it (because prior to that age, my hair never got long enough for me to see it)!
At age 57 now, I'm making up for lost hair time -- am growing it while I can, and keeping it that way for as long as I can!
My last short haircut was back in Y2K, when I impulsively cut off my then waist-length hair (to a typical guy length, where the bangs were at eyebrow length, no longer than top of ears on the sides, and not touching the collar in the back) -- and I can't begin to tell you how much I totally REGRETTED cutting it, once I fully realized what I'd done! The good news, though, is that this experience only ended up teaching me an important lesson in life -- and that from then on, to make a COMMITMENT to being a longhair for life.
It is always out of our control whether the fates of planet Earth may one day give us an unfortunate accident, illness, or even something as unlikely as a crazed scissor-weilding Nazi crossing our path... Whenever dealing with something that is out of our control, all we can do is our best under the stress of circumstances. But, as long as none of the above happens ("knock on wood"), and as long as I'm still healthy enough to care for my own self & can still run a comb through my own hair, most likely I'll keep it long until the day I sing my final swan song!
Again, thanks so much for sharing your inspiring story here. it is posts like yours that make MLHH such a great and meaningful place to read and be a part of!
- Ken in San Francisco
Thank you both for your nice comments. I appreciate that you liked my post. Wishing you all a great Thanksgiving. C.