Gray hair? Don’t care

When men go gray, they are described as distinguished, silver fox, even gray-haired hunks! But when women go gray, it’s the opposite. We are referred to as elderly old hags! I never saw my mother with gray hair until Alzheimer’s took over and she went into a nursing home. She didn’t know any better. I know she would have been mortified to know she was walking around with gray locks. When I was growing up, she said she never wanted to look like an old lady and kept a bottle of Clairol for brunettes on the bathroom counter.

I couldn’t agree with her more! When my hair stylist first told me she had to cover up some of the gray on my dark roots, I was deflated. Ugh. Here comes the aging process. But I knew I could keep the gray at bay! I would never be caught dead with any sign of gray hair, especially being on TV every day. I kept my blonde highlights and made sure I had my hair appointment every five weeks to stay on top of the natural aging on my head.

Then the pandemic arrived, and salons were the first to shut down. What? I can’t go to the hairdresser? How am I going to survive? Blonde root cover up only goes so far. How was I going to hide my gray hair for months on end. I know I could have followed in my mother’s footsteps and bought a box of Clairol. I read how many women were turning to the box and coloring their own hair. I do not trust myself with those chemicals and can only imagine what I would have done to myself had I dabbled in the dye.

I had to wait it out and let nature take it course. What started growing from my head was not this old hag hairdo, but a beautiful shimmery silver. Wait a minute? Could this be? Could I be caught alive with the gray color? I decided I could. I embraced the inevitable and accepted my natural color.

When the lockdown restrictions were lifted, I went back to my hairdresser and told her to not touch my gray! Leave it. I emerged from the pandemic with a new appreciation of self-love and accepting the aging process.

I’m not an old hag with gray hair after all. Just call me and other women going gray..a silver vixen. Gray hair? Don’t care!