I have a little story to tell.

It’s kind of a ride. It will likely only have any importance to me, so feel free to mute the next batch of posts.

But it’s a gut twister.

1/

Okay, if you have followed me, you probably know that my childhood was pretty rough. Lots had it far worse, but maintaining an optimistic POV was often pretty difficult.

I love my family, but to say we didn’t always understand each other is a massive understatement.

2/

I was a star student, graduated early with nearly perfect grades, I worked two jobs to pay all my own expenses, I was in drama, was a basketball cheerleader, and babysat my siblings.

So, you’d think, parent’s dream, right? :)

But I was willful and liked books, and comics. 3/

No drugs, no alcohol, just a pretty good kid by most standards, but things were rough. And again, LOTS of people had it lots worse, and we’re all fine and get along and there’s no hard feelings or anything like that. I’m not trying to whine, it’s just what it was.

4/

But in particular, there wasn’t a lot of quality family time, not a lot of laughs around the house, really.

And again, I liked some nerdy things. And literature, and scary movies. So, nerd tendencies were definitely there and those were not really much appreciated. ;). 5/

And I figured, well, I’m sure it’s like this for everyone, we live in the boonies, my father is a lumberjack, it’s a mill and fishing town. I’m the oddball, not everyone else, no big deal.

But the story takes a weird twist, because my mom cut my hair. 6/

Now, I love my mom, but she can’t cut hair and it was always a horrible trauma. So I would save up and get my hair styled in town and it was very little better. TRAUMA. When you’re already the only redhead in school...YIKES. :)

7)

Then we heard that there was a new salon in the next town up the coast, about 17 miles away, and the owner was awesome, a hair whiz from California. I begged to go. And I did, and she WAS awesome. She FIXED MY LIFE with that first hairstyle. I loved her immediately.

8/

So, that changed everything, suddenly I don’t have a pumpkin globe on my head, I have this gorgeous mane and it’s just a complete game changer.

I adored her.

9/

And she’s great, she’s funny, everyone is always laughing, and she is genuinely interested in my hobbies and interests. I was thirteen, having an adult LISTEN to my nerdy interests was a big deal.

Pretty soon, she mentions she has a son who likes the same stuff.
10/

And from there begins a TWO YEAR INITIATIVE on her part to get her son and I to meet. We both politely decline. FOR TWO YEARS.

Who wants to get involved with someone half an hour away? It just sounded too weird. And who wants to be set up by their MOM? :) 11/

Anyway, he has girlfriends, I had boyfriends, it just never was going to happen.

Finally, TWO YEARS later, he asks her, “Mom, if I call this girl, will you quit bugging me about it?”

That was @rocketspouse. 12/

He calls, asks if I would like to go to the beach and then play Dungeons and Dragons. I REALLY wanted to play, I had only heard about it. So I said yes. And that was our first date.

He and his friends were a riot, we had a blast. 13/

But the best thing was, the entire family is laughing and telling jokes and picking on each other in a playful, funny way. That was a very new thing. And my hairdresser turned out to be an AMAZING cook. 15/

She made a beautiful bbq dinner for just the two of us on the same lakeside deck where I am typing this right now.

And she told jokes and danced for our entertainment (and @rocketspouse’s eternal embarrassment). I had never experienced anything like it. 16/

Flashing forward, I fell in love with that guy and married him a little, and we spend every day together, and we are a team and it’s lovely.

And my hairdresser became my second mom, no question, she loved me as her daughter and that was it. 17/