Do you ever think about your hair? You probably do. But, do you ever think about how much of a role it plays in your everyday life? You probably don’t.
From the moment we wake up and push our hair out of our faces until the end of the day when we fall back into bed our hair plays a major role in our day. We wash it, brush it, style it, talk about it, get it cut, dye it, buy products for it, compliment others on theirs and they yours, we touch it, put a hat on it, brush it back, run our fingers through it… you get the idea. There are even entire days devoted to hair! Crazy hair day, bad hair day, good hair day…
Yep, hair, it’s a big deal! Even if you don’t do much to your hair, there’s a high probability that you like having some. So, what if one day you just didn’t? What would you do? How would you cope?
For as long as I can remember hair loss has been a topic in my family. My grandmother on my mother’s side had a wig, in fact I don’t know of a time when she didn’t. She would visit a few times a year and I have vivid memories of her taking off her wig and setting it on the bathroom counter. She didn’t have a wig stand or anything she would just plunk it down. She had a little bit of hair underneath and surprisingly it was still quite dark, but there wasn’t much. She never seemed bothered by it and us kids weren’t either. To us that’s just how she was. We loved her with or without hair.
She once told me that she made sure to take her wig off in front of us so we wouldn’t be shocked to see her with no hair. That was the gift she gave us. We never knew if the fact that she wore a wig for most of her life bothered her or made her feel in any way self-conscious. She was always more concerned about our feelings. In fact it was such a non-issue I never thought to talk about it with her. In hindsight I wish I would have. Grandma had three wigs which she rotated through, the everyday hairdo, the special occasion hairdo and the just woke up hair do!
Grandma isn’t the only woman in our family who suffered hair loss. My mom also had a similar thing happen to her. It didn’t happen overnight, but over the years her hair became thinner and thinner. As I mentioned above having hair is something we just take for granted until one day we can’t.
Then came Anton! He changed her life! He’s an amazing person and our family can’t say enough about him! He comes from a long line of wig makers. In fact the family has been making wigs since Napoleon’s time and even made wigs for the Vienna Opera!
While he has clients like mom with partial hair additions, his unique specialty is making wigs for women going through chemotherapy treatments. He makes the wigs out of their own hair! In one day! Incredible! Of course visiting him as soon as possible after the start of treatment makes for the best possible outcome.
Mom has been going to Anton for over 15 years and I think I can safely say that he’s changed her life! You wouldn’t know from looking at her that the thick beautiful head of hair on her head didn’t actually grow there! People are always surprised when they find out.
The wigs that Anton makes can be washed, brushed and styled just the same as the hair that grows directly from your head! Fascinating! They are so natural looking that once even though I knew the person was a client of Anton’s I forgot and asked, “Did you get a haircut?”
It’s such a wonderful service I can’t say enough about it. It would be great if we could just say, “oh, it’s only hair.” Honestly, that is the farthest thing from the truth. We often identify ourselves by our outward appearance and others do too. So and so has blond hair or long hair, or spiky hair… whether your hair falls out from chemo or for another reason being able to carry on and feel like yourself is an invaluable gift. One less thing to worry about when you look in the mirror in the morning and it’s not a stranger looking back.
If you’re interested in learning more about Anton here is his contact information:
Anton’s Hair Company
13240 NE 20th, Suite 11
Bellevue, WA 98005
kswigmaker@aol.com
425.562.7979
