Oh the lengths we'll go to show our love!

My Mom had grand plans to grow out her hair and cut it off to donate to Locks of Love in celebration of her 65th birthday. Nearly eight months before her big milestone, her hair was barely long enough to make a ponytail so we assumed she wouldn't be able to cross that finish line in time.

But in a bittersweet twist, she was able to make the hair donation after all... because she shaved her head before the hair started falling out from the chemotherapy treatments she'd just started.

It was a year ago this week that our family heard news that changed our lives forever: my Mom told us she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time, she was only 64 years old. The good news is she's OK now. After a lumpectomy then months of chemotherapy and radiation, she's finished her treatment with a positive prognosis. The bad news is, she's not alone.
I went to my favorite hair stylist to make the big cut (photo above) for my Mom's one-year anniversary to donate to Locks of Love or Pantene Beautiful Lengths. I'm incredibly thankful and relieved that this small gesture was in HONOR of my Mom... not in memory.

Sadly though, at the exact moment the stylist was cutting off my ponytail, the mobile phone in his pocket began ringing. It was unthinkably terrible news: his Mom has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

I'm disheartened that I have an idea what the next year will be like for him and his family. But I told him that the support of loved ones will sustain him. The women who were my bridesmaids were among those who kept my spirits high during the lows.

Be grateful for your friends... they'll stand beside you during the wedding and every day thereafter.

Hug your loved ones... get regular screenings... pray/send positive thoughts to those who are on the path to get well again -- and to those who are just beginning.