I have a dear friend who had a nice head of hair, black and pretty and thick. A friend of hers has cancer and has lost her hair. My friend Diana had her cut in a salon and donated the hair to Locks Of Love.

Though she will not get Diana’s donated hair, the deed is rated by me as a golden act.  The friend is wearing wigs at the present time until her hair grows back. Someone will use Diana’s hair given in honor of her friend and they will benefit from her cut. There are several organizations to submit the hair to and probably each one has their own rules etc. One is called Locks Of Love. The locks given to them are used by children who have lost their hair due to a medical condition. I imagine they are made into small and suitable wigs for the children and certainly make the children so happy to have their baldness covered.

This is what the cutting of long hair is, a lock of love or I say a look of love. If I had long hair now, I would do it. I did donate some long hair about thirty-three years ago. I hope that those locks helped someone.

Women are so concerned about their hair length, hair color, turning gray, if it is curled, straight, twisted, up, down, on the side, bangs, no bangs and anything there is to be anxious about having hair. Of course, men are used to losing their hair and often kid each other about it being gone or almost not there.

My aunt Jenny who I mentioned recently had such long hair. It went down her back, way down almost a few inches above her ankles. It was a pretty shade of medium brown and when I visited her, she sometimes brushed it, plaited it and would wind it around and around into a huge circle so it became what is called a bun. Actually, it looked like a large bun (pastry) that you see in bakeries. She wore it like that until she passed on, probably into her sixties. I do not think she ever trimmed it.

The organization is called Locksoflove.org and there is another one Pantene Locks and you can find it on the Internet.

It is a mitzvah and my friend Diana Ragonese Mitchell is what I call a mitzvah giver in doing this and also many other acts she participates in during her daily living. Mitzvah means good deeds.

I see where giving hair to one of these organizations says the hair becomes a hair prosthetic. We usually think of a prosthetic is one used for a lost leg or arms. It is interesting that hair is thought of as a prosthetic and it is a good use of the word.

My mom use to work for an advertising agency when I was a kid and they had pamphlets they sent out on leg and arm prosthetics, to a list they obtained from the armed services, of soldiers who had lost their arms and legs. She brought home one of these pamphlets and I was so sad, as a young child, to think someone had lost their limb. I can still see that paper now over sixty-eight years later.

The loss of a limb is unreturnable.The loss of hair is that it will grow back and take a bit of time, but it does happen. We cannot give a limb back, but we can give some hair if we have long locks to a deserving child or adult. This to me is a golden gift of locks and almost sounds like the name of the story Goldilocks from our childhood.

Some of us have blonde or golden hair, others dark or medium brown hair, some like my Mom had red hair, and some have black hair. Whatever color you have, if the time comes when you need to or want to cut it and it is the length needed by these organizations, it cannot be an inch or two, it has to be longer and they have some rules before they accept it, donate it.The length is because they make them into wigs and they are given to women or girls who need it because they have lost their hair due to illness or cancer.

Goldilocks was known for her long and golden hair. Perhaps, if she was living in this time, she would cut hers too.

This will be your golden mitzvah (good deed), actually a golden deed, if you donate your cut hair to one of these wonderful organizations that helps a person cope with hair loss. Your hair cutting and giving will be a token of your good luck in having it to give and wanting to designate it to a deserving person. You will have an imaginary halo above your shortened hair which will make you glow and to feel fulfilled in the golden deed you did do for others.

Goldilocks hid from the three bears, you will not hide your gift of hair, so someone will not have a bare head.