Part 1: The Strength Beneath the Pink

Part 2: Releasing Vanity

Part 3: Beneath the Beautiful

Part 4: The Red Savior

Part 5: Story of her life

For updates, follow her story on Facebook

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Releasing vanity. Sounds horrible doesn’t it? It’s really not. We are all vain.  I really wish we weren’t, but it’s just how we are programmed.  Maybe it’s not bad. There are certain parts of vanity that are good. Let’s explore that.  When we want our appearance to be “good”, is that vain? I don’t think so. If we don’t care about our appearance, is that bad? Nope. Everyone has a right to care or not care about their appearance.  So our personal definitions of vanity are all probably different. What we all probably agree on, is a person who is TRULY vain, wants to “show off” their excellence to others, for lack of a better definition :).

Lyndsie decided to cut her hair before she started loosing it. She asked during the process, “Emily, I hope others don’t see me as being vain for doing this”. Oh Lyndsie.  You are not vain. Vanity gets misused. As a woman, when you loose part of your femininity, NOT by choice, you are ALLOWED to feel sad. You are not being vain, you are being human.

I must say Lyndise is PROUD of her beautiful hair. Being proud and vain are not the same things. When we are proud, it’s our opinion of ourselves. When we are vain, it’s what we perceive other’s opinions should be.

Lyndsie does not care about anyones opinions but her children’s. She knew her husband would love her regardless.  She was more concerned her change in appearance would somehow affect her children. Guess what. They….DIDNT. EVEN. NOTICE.

We all know Lyndise is beautiful. So I hereby release her of any fears of her feeling like she’s being “vain”. 🙂 She’s not. We all adore her. We all support her. Her family loves her. Her children and husband love her. End of story. Vanity is officially out the window. No time to worry about be vain while kicking cancer’s butt.

Now, just because she’s not being vain, does not mean she’s not sad.  Lyndise is allowed to be sad.  She has defined her “OUTER” looks with her AMAZING eyelashes and incredible head of hair. It’s part of her.  So to loose her hair (the doctors are hopeful she will keep her eyelashes) in such a horrible way, is sad. When a woman goes for a haircut, because she wants a new style. Thats their choice. If Lyndsie wants to fight her cancer, she has  NO CHOICE but to loose her hair.  So the meaning behind cutting her hair is at an entirely different level.

Lyndsie told me, “Emily, I can’t handle being in the shower one day, washing my hair, and feeling a clump of hair fall out. I can’t do it. Im strong, but not THAT strong. So I want to cut it.”

Cut it she did. Not only did she cut it, she saved 6 of her 7 pony tails to donate to Locks of Love. She kept one to remember why she’s doing this. To get back to her strong bad self once she’s kicked this.  She didn’t have to donate her hair. She could of made a wig for herself. She decided there was probably someone out there, namely a child, who would want hair more than she did.  Love her.  Honestly I do. I have been chosen for some reason to be in her life. Not sure why. But I am sure glad as all heck I have been. I’m a better person for knowing her and her family. Big giant hug. Ok moving on 🙂

 

Now lets look at Lyndsies haircut day. Her good friend Elizabeth was there to cut her hair. Fitting she have a close friend to do the honor of her big hair donation day :).  Cup half full, cup half full. We will not be looking at Lyndise loosing anything anymore, but doing something positive to help her maintain the strength to get through this.

So here we go. Let’s give Lyndsie a haircut, in her home, where she’s surrounded by only those that know and love her. Yep. I love her.

 

Lyndsie just before her haircut. You will notice I have just a FEW in color. Bw tell the story in a way color just can’t. Color is left for a few special moments.

 

 

Ok! Let’s do this.

 

 

 

 

Even Lyndsie is allow to be scared. Or sad, or whatever she needs to be. This face is not laughter. Bless her heart. She puts on such a brave face for all of us. I was honestly relieved to see her show how she is really feeling. She’s so amazing. I just love this girl. You can tell, from the above photos, it was building. Mom and Elizabeth were trying to be fun and supportive with that FIRST ponytail cut off (Locks of Love needs 6 ponytails to make a wig).  But it was time for Lyndsie to release and actually be afraid for a bit. Love her.

 

And so I set down my camera and went to give her a hug and a kiss on the head. Missed the shot I was aiming for.  Cut off half of her face actually in the shot, but grabbed her eyes which said it all anyways.  But I had more important things to give my attention to at that moment. I just wanted to hug her. But I knew it would just make things worse as Lyndise is trying SO hard to be SO strong. Cup half full. Cup half full.  So after the quick hug and smooch, back I went to documenting this huge moment for Lyndise and her family. While the entire time, I was secretly holding it in. Release.

The below image is what I saw the entire time. Lyndsie. All the ones behind her rallying in her support. Which she needs. But it’s like she was in her own world. Praying to make it through for her kids. Knowing the entire time she was doing ALL of this for those standing around her.  It’s really hard sometimes to see how someone really feels when they are SO good at making everyone else happy. Hiding their raw emotion. Also, what you DON’T see, is the emotion that her family is holding in themselves. They are strong. Lyndsie is brave. Lyndsie is real. Lyndsie is tough. Lyndsie is the strength beneath the pink.

In the collage below, you can see her speaking to her daughter. She said to her at that moment “this is all for you baby girl. I’m doing this all for you.”

 Sometimes you just need your mom

 

 

She did it!

Her first look…

She’s so beautiful.

Get THIS! Her sister, Tracie, drove AFTER running the 1/2 marathon in Chicago, to join in on the haircutting experience. Amazing.

Family

In case you missed the start of Lyndsies story, you can visit it here: The Strength Beneath the Pink.  Make sure to not only read her story but watch the video which is just at about the top of that post. It will really show you Lyndsie and the bond with her and her family

To follow Lyndsie, go become her friend on her new FB page just for you guys, Lyndsie.

Last but not least, sadly, cancer is very expensive. Her good friends have set up a page for her where you can help. Visit Care for Lyndsie for more details.

Stay tuned and continue to support Lyndsie though her journey.