Reflections 4/26/2020: I guess envy is ageless! Just the subject of the envy changes, though the emotion remains the same! “I want what you have!” “Jesse’s girl” becomes “Jesse’s grill” as the years progress and what’s desirable morphs before our eyes! All my life, having long, expressive hair was a mainstay of my sense of self. In elementary school it was pulled tight into a high flyin’ “ponytail”… which for most people is just a descriptive word, but for me it was exactly that… this pony’s tail! A horse incarnated on the playground!  Hooves flying in all directions! Still can whinny like the real deal! In middle school my hair was a cover for zits on my face! Buster Brown bangs! In high school, it was spread out on an ironing board (before flatirons were invented!), and ironed to Mob Squad straight perfection! College landed me the name of “Bush Woman” as the Santa Barbara fog electrified my curly locks into Janis Joplin frizz! Professional years brought steam-rollered curler control to a still long doo (in a rendition of Farrah Fawcett’s locks), that coiffed me in this frozen state for the last 30 years! My quirky image. So going from hair-defined to hair-less has been traumatic for me! But also enlightening! I am still me, regardless of what is or isn’t present on my head! Go figure! I am more than my hair!! I don’t think I can totally stamp out envy… especially of long, luxurious locks… BUT I can thank You God for whittling away the non-essentials of who I am! AND letting me all the more recognize my face in a mirror that reflects back a bald me! As girls become grills in our aging process, may I grow to value the things You value, Lord!