I was in my late 20s when I noticed my first gray hair – in my eyebrow. It was staring right back at me in the mirror. Of course, it didn’t grow in the same direction as all the other hairs on my eyebrow, it stood right up, so how could I miss it? So, I simply plucked it out and, ever so often, it would reappear, sometimes with a friend. It wasn’t a big deal and I was okay with it. Then in my 30s, I noticed random gray hairs popping up on my head as well as other places. There weren’t many and I bet most people didn’t even notice them. But I noticed them. I didn’t do anything about them; I just watched their slow arrival here and there.

By the time I reached my early 40s, the random gray hairs of my 30s were more noticeable and no longer random. They seemed to congregate over my right temple. One day, while getting my haircut, I noticed that there were a lot of women getting their hair colored or “touched-up.” All of sudden, I realized that most woman in their 40s had some gray hairs and if they didn’t it was probably because they colored them. I asked Sean at Shapers, if most women in their 40s had some gray hair but if I didn’t see them, it was because they colored them. He reluctantly agreed. Sure, some people don’t develop gray hair until much later in life, but I was nonetheless bowled over by this realization. I could not believe that a majority of our society was coloring their hair. That was a lot of women and perhaps men too. Sean asked if I would like to try, I politely declined.

I never actually entertained the idea of coloring my hair for one simple reason – I am lazy. I know that I would never keep up with the process and I believe the salt ‘n’ pepper look was much more flattering than the skunk look, at least on me. A while back, I was visiting some girlfriends from college and one came right out and told me that I had to get rid of all my gray hair. We hadn’t seen each other for a while and I think my hair really shocked her. In my mid-40s, the gray seem to be replacing my brunette hair exponentially. By then, Mike told me that he loved the way my gray looked and thought it was sexy. Well, folks at that point it was a no brainer. So, now I had an even better reason – my husband loved it and couldn’t wait until I had more. Therefore, if I combine the two reasons – that it’s flattering and I am lazy – there is absolutely no reason to change the color of my hair – I am staying with the natural look.

As the years pass and the gray accumulates, I’ve come up with another excellent reason – I have earned every single gray hair on my head and no one is going to take them away from me; that is my favorite reason to keep my now salt ‘n’ pepper hair. Some days, when my hair falls just right and reflects the sunlight, it amazes me how many gray hairs have replaced my youthful brunette locks. Sometimes, I like to blame Mike and Mathew, as there were very few gray hairs before they came into my life. In fact, when Mathew does something very dangerous, he looks over at me and asks if I have another gray hair. Nevertheless, most of the time I am grateful for my time and experiences that got me here today, gray and all.

My Salt ‘N’ Pepper

How do you feel about your gray hair and the signs of aging? Please share and I will continue to share.