When I first got diagnosed with cancer, I felt like I had to fight this thing on my own. I didn't even really want to tell anyone besides family. But I have learned that this is not something you can do on your own. I needed the love and support of everyone around me, even people I didn't even know.
When I lost my hair, Russell suggested we have a head shaving party with the guys from the fire department. They had done this before when a few other guys or their wives had had cancer so he thought they would do it for me too. At first I thought it was a crazy idea. I mean, these guys don't even know me so why would they shave their head to support me? I went along with the idea not really expecting anyone to actually do it. I figured there might be one or two guys but that was it. Russell was really looking forward to it though so we planned the party and set a date and time for all the guys to meet at the Merlin Olsen park to get their head shaved. When the day came, I was amazed at how many guys and their wives showed up. We were at the park for probably two hours just giving hair cuts!
They wanted me to shave every one's heads at first but I told them no way! So everyone took turns shaving each others head. Some guys even had their kids do it. The whole night was so much fun. We all laughed so hard as we shaved funny things in their hair before cutting it all off. Ben was the most emotional one I think. He loved to take off his hat and just flip his hair around. He said he had been growing it out just for this moment. We all laughed at him as Russell took the first whack. Ben said he cared the most because he had the most hair to give. I don't know if he had the most hair to give because the Coby Kearl had a full mullet shaved off. That kid was awesome. He just said, "Do it!" and his mom, Jenny, cut it off.
Not only did many fire guys from Logan come but there were guys from Wellsville and Hyrum and other cities in the county. I could not believe they were all doing this for Russell and me.
In all there were 12 or so guys that willingly shaved their heads for us. It was amazing to feel the love and support from these great guys. Words cannot express my gratitude.
Not only were these guys supportive, but their wives were there too. Each of them came up and talked to me and wished me well and just expressed their support. This really made me feel good and loved by people I don't even know. There were two women that were very encouraging to me because they were breast cancer survivors as well. They gave me some great pointers and just let me know there was light at the end of the tunnel. They each told me about their head shaving parties that these guys did for them too. It was nice to get to know Jenny Kearl and Colleena Hammer.
Thank you again guys!
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