My Mom was great at being thrifty: coupons, discounts, you name it. One of the things that she did to save money when I was growing up was to cut my hair. She didn’t have any formal training but, somehow, she just picked it up. In addition to my hair, she also cut my Dad’s, and - when word got around that she was actually pretty good - she started cutting the hair of whoever came along. One of the regulars was my dear friend and next-door neighbor, Kevin Shannon, who can be seen in the blue shirt sitting next to my Dad.
One day right around my Dad’s birthday, Kevin was getting his haircut. Somehow, that day, he came up with the bright idea of giving the clippings to my Dad as a birthday gift along with a bottle of Elmer’s glue because, as Kevin said, “He really seemed to need it.” My Mom must have thought that this was hilarious because she “ran with it as soon as it left my mouth,” according to Kevin. She even made sure that Kevin’s red hair clippings were neatly placed in a gift box with white tissue paper, the box beautifully wrapped with a red bow on top. Everyone was in on the joke, so we were excited for my Dad to open this gift. When he did, we all burst into laughter, especially my Dad.
Of course, my Mom wanted to document this moment, so we all lined up around the box of hair and smiled for the camera. It was one of those neighborhood happenings that we talked about for years to come and when I asked Kevin about the “hair story” for this week’s blog, it gave us both a good laugh even after all these years.
One day right around my Dad’s birthday, Kevin was getting his haircut. Somehow, that day, he came up with the bright idea of giving the clippings to my Dad as a birthday gift along with a bottle of Elmer’s glue because, as Kevin said, “He really seemed to need it.” My Mom must have thought that this was hilarious because she “ran with it as soon as it left my mouth,” according to Kevin. She even made sure that Kevin’s red hair clippings were neatly placed in a gift box with white tissue paper, the box beautifully wrapped with a red bow on top. Everyone was in on the joke, so we were excited for my Dad to open this gift. When he did, we all burst into laughter, especially my Dad.
Of course, my Mom wanted to document this moment, so we all lined up around the box of hair and smiled for the camera. It was one of those neighborhood happenings that we talked about for years to come and when I asked Kevin about the “hair story” for this week’s blog, it gave us both a good laugh even after all these years.
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