Beauty Parlor Day

We got Snowy up and dressed and we headed off timely to the Beauty Parlor.

The girls were so happy to see her, and made sure she knew it. They are so good to know to physically drop down to her level and look her in the eyes and when she looks back at them they talk to her with delight and big smiles.

She is touched somewhere inside by this and she pulls up from her depths and smiles back at them, a genuine, crinkly-eyed, dimpled smile.

I love them for how lovingly they connect with her.

It was difficult for her, physically, emotionally, mentally, to manage all the process. We had to go from car to wheelchair, waiting in the waiting area, wheeling back to the shampoo area, getting out of the wheelchair and over into the shampoo chair, leaning back, then leaning forward, getting up (all this with help) — when her hair is wet, this is when you can still see that she has auburn hair, turned back to sit down in the wheelchair, rolled to the station… today we moved the styling chair to one side and our wonderful stylist worked on her sitting in her wheelchair…, then wheeled over to the dryer, and out of her chair and turned into that seat, then “meditating” (what we call a doze) for awhile until the dryer clicks off, then back in her wheelchair and back to the station, rollers are taken out and the styling is done and her hair becomes a beautiful froth of lacy-looking snowy hair, the red strands hiding within the confection, probably with a giggle.

Snowy, seeing herself so beautified for the first time in a couple of weeks, had a look of awe and wonder on her face. She told our stylist, “I feel all excited inside!” Her voice was so soft we almost didn’t catch her words.

I handed her the check to pay, and she handed it over to our stylist and made sure we had an appointment for next week. We rolled back out into the chilly area and I sprinted her across to the car, she shuffled inside, so difficult is it for her to even slide over. I fastened her in and covered her with a little blanket, and we headed home. More wheeling and walking (shuffling) and covering in blankets, and some bites of lunch… soon it was nap time. She was exhausted.

When Chick stirred her from her nap a bit later, she was still worn out. So Chick helped her change into her gown, fed her some, set her up to watch tv for awhile until she couldn’t stay up any longer. She asked repeatedly about who Alabama was playing today and nodded each time it was explained that they have this weekend off, and then she’d ask again. After night pills and Chick’s tucking her into bed, I went in for kisses and prayers, and she told me how special we are, that others wouldn’t “do this”.

I told her that she had been loving and caring for us all our lives and she had shown us how it’s done.

Beauty.