So today was quite an eventful day! Where do I begin? Oh yes, I believe we started the day with oatmeal and strawberries

… followed by a 50 minute power yoga session.

Then we were off to register for the Terry Fox Run, which started at 1:00. We had a quick lunch and walked on down. Today was also an exciting day because Autumn has been planning to donate her hair at the Terry Fox event for a long time now.

It was a really good turn out.

When we got there, we all got ribbons

There were also activities set up for the kids.

Then we got ready for the 5K run. Autumn rode her bike.

It felt so good to get out all together as a family for this event. There were 3 groups, one for slow walkers, one for the people on bikes and another for anyone who wanted to run 10k. We were with all the people who were on bikes, so we had to run to keep up.

I was going pretty fast, pushing Kesa.

After a while, Craig took over pushing and I got to run ahead with Autumn. Then Autumn slowed down and I kept on running. Eventually I was way ahead of everyone, so I ran back to them and we walked the last mile or so.

As I was running I thought of a friend of mine, Shawn Ostapchuk, who passed away in April of this year after his battle with cancer. He was only 2 days older than me. I thought about how great a person he was and how big an inspiration he was to so many.

When we got back, Autumn got on stage to donate her ponytail.

Then it was our turn…

I decided that I wanted to donate my hair too. So I got my head shaved, in memory of Shawn.

Since I braved it, Craig got his shaved too. We are in this together, for better or for worse. Honestly, I think this was actually for better.

We got a new look today.

I know that to most people that seems totally crazy, but it is something that I really needed to do. Shaving my head, shows that it doesn’t matter whether you have hair or not, real beauty comes from within and that is something I wanted to remind myself and also to teach my girls.

When Kesa saw me after, she looked at me with a big smile. My girls still love me the same without my hair and so does Craig. If all we live for is to impress people with our appearance, we are in serious trouble. If our happiness is only dependent on how much we weigh or how much hair we have or do not have, we will never know true happiness. I want to be real and to be loved for more than how I look. I am not my hair, or my body, I am much more than that.

Autumn and I both donated our beautiful red hair to be made into wigs for those who have none, but have lost it, fighting a battle that no one should ever have to fight. I sacrificed my head of hair, to show just how small a sacrifice it really is. I also wanted to let go of selfishness and do something for others, who are in need.

I am sure there will be some pretty happy people out there with that vibrant red hair. 🙂

I want to end this post with a quote that I was thinking of as I watched my hair fall to the ground, ” I am only one, but still I am one, I cannot do everything, but I can do something and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.” – Edward Everett Hale

That is the attitude that I choose to live with.