Posted May 05, 2011
By bradley

Mom was battling cancer. Everyone knows the side effects of chemotherapy: the nausea, the weakness, so many horrible things to endure. However, the most benign was the hardest for mom - the hair loss. Of all the indignities she had to suffer, this one attacked her self-esteem the most.

Until halfway through her treatment he had resisted wigs, as if it represented acquiescing to the cancer in some way. She finally gave in to my gentle urging, and agreed to go to a wig shop. We selected some styles and she sat in a chair in front of a mirror. The moment the first one was carefully placed on her smooth head, an transformation occurred.

She sat a little straighter. Her frail frame seemed more confident, poised. A small smile crept to her lips.

"I think this looks rather nice, don't you think?" she asked.

"Yes," I said, tears sliding down my face.

"I think it looks great."

(Mom's treatment ended July of last year. Today ,she remains cancer-free with a full head of her own hair.)