Family Ties.

Kyrie's Aunt Manda & Uncle Ryan are somewhere near Hays, Kansas right now with their two dogs and two vehicles packed with stuff. Today they are moving from mountainous Colorado Springs to soggy Kansas City, a plan put into motion by Kyrie herself.

Being a lead-footed, eight-hour drive away has meant compromising around the holidays and missing out on good, ol' Thome fun. And then there's the not-so-fun stuff, which is, frankly, even more important. When we were all in the hospital waiting room during Kyrie's first surgery, Aunt Manda was booking an emergency flight into Wichita. That day, gravity started pulling a branch of the family tree closer to home.

It was also during Kyrie's first stay in the hospital that Manda & I hatched a little plan to donate our hair. Manda's is shoulder length, which means growth would take awhile, but as soon as she got back home, she started taking prenatal vitamins to make her hair grow faster. I started deep conditioning mine.

Locks of Love only needs 10 inches, while Wigs for Kids needs 12. The good thing is that even if these organizations can't use the hair for their own purposes, they can sell it, which still helps their cause. Anyone done this before? Have a recommendation?

I've lost count of how many people have said, "I wish I had your hair!" My grandmothers, my friends who smelled like permanent solution, my coworkers, men in the aisles of Wal-Mart, women on planes, the balding, the braided, old, young, children even—they've all said this to me. My 'do is naturally curly, and as curls go, I think they're kinda nice, too, though I've just recently come to this decision. Junior high was a frizzy nightmare. I got this hair from my dad. Jordan got it, too, but when Jordan grew his out in 2004 (just in time for my wedding), he looked kinda like a buffalo.

So when I think about lopping off these locks in a month or two (or three, depending on Manda's vitamin intake), I feel good knowing that I wouldn't really be doing this if it weren't for a pretty little angel that we all know. And ... for all those people wishing for this hair, well, someone will finally get their wish granted.