Monday, July 25, 2005

prematurely gray

this afternoon, on the way home from work, i found myself walking behind a prematurely graying man. i had seen his gray hairs from across the street and imagined him to be about 35-40 years of age. but as he crossed the road and fell into step right in front of me, it became clear that he could be no more than 30 and no less than 25. i decided his name was mac. mac, the 28-year-old, prematurely-graying academic-for-life (he was wearing a collegiate tee and running shorts at 5 p.m. so unless he dresses at the speed of light, he doesn't hold a normal 9-5 day job).

mac's hair got me thinking. i like prematurely graying people.

when my sister sarah was planning her wedding two years ago, the process - which, as far as i could tell, never choked her spirits or drove her to wedding lunacy - may be the reason sections of her hair gradually grew silver. on her wedding day, i was surprised at how many grays graced her locks over such a short period of time (please don't kill me for writing this, sarah. it really is a compliment). i admit, i was a little jealous.

i've maybe - MAYBE - once found a gray hair on my head. i plucked it out so i could belong to the club of "every time i pluck out a gray hair, another grows in its place: argh." unfortunately, i haven't seen another gray in years. this is disappointing.

i remember, too, when my mother went gray. my mom has the most beautiful hair in the whole world. it is deep dark jet black, and only recently was she naturally lucky enough to sport beautiful silver strands in her 'do. it's so beautiful. my dad's full head of gray is quite handsome, too. refined, if you will. like a ralph lauren ad where everyone's playing cricket in sports jackets in new england.

gray hair says so much. it's a shame that it seems more beneficial for men, while women are told how to dye their hair or what to cut out of their diets to counteract the onsetting grays (fyi: excessive intake of tea, coffee, alcohol, meat, and fried, oily, greasy, spicy, sour, and acidic foods can reduce the moisture and nutrients reaching the hair follicles and may lead to premature graying). there's even an entire diet plan written out to disrupt the onset of gray.

but why? gray hair is much too beautiful. so while i pray for some wintry gray/white/silver strands to grace my head, those of you who've already got it should celebrate. after all ...

"Gray hair is a crown of splendor;
it is attained by a righteous life."

lucky, lucky you.

4 Comments:

At 6:30 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, I guess I need to start celebrating, because I DEFINITELY have the premature grey hair. (I like to spell it grey.) I've never viewed it as a blessing, but now I will in honor of missmaryb.

Does this mean I have to stop getting lowlights?

By the way, I'll be twenty-eight in September. Yep. Twenty-eight. Both of my brothers (33, 36) have lots of grey hair, and my sisters (28, 35) as well. The sisters are able to hide it a little easier because they are blond instead of brown (like me). My dad is completely white-headed and started going grey about the age of 14. My mom has the most beautiful silver hair I've ever seen.

 
At 4:11 PM, Blogger erin said...

i haven't decided what i think of premature grays. as of right now i have only gray in the back of my head because i pulled all the front ones out last week. we'll see if i get 70 in the place of the 35 that i plucked. (no, i didn't actually keep count.)

 
At 5:50 AM, Blogger jenn said...

Maybe one of these days I will allow my hair to turn the dishwater blonde its been dying to turn to since I started hi-lighting it in Jr. High.

Who knows what may be lurking beneath all those chemicals??

 
At 7:32 AM, Blogger rebstar said...

i found my first grey hair a fews years ago (age 25ish), and i was NOT HAPPY. and i have not been happy since then, upon seeing the little "patch" where they like to accumulate. mine DO have the tendency to look a little silver, so i guess that's a plus.

all this to say, i really appreciate your appreciation for the greys--it's very uplifting. thanks. :)

 

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