NORWAY – First, 5 inches of Lacey P. Oliver’s medium blond hair was cut.
She didn’t flinch.
Then 12 inches was taken.
Lacey’s tresses had been trimmed, but never seriously cut in 12 years.
“We’re probably going to take 2 more inches and then give here some highlights up front,” said hairstylist Patty Thomas of Hair & Company on Main Street.
“I like it,” Lacey said. “My friends are going to be freaked out.”
Her hair, along with hair cut from six other people, was being sent to the Locks of Love charity in Lake Worth. Fla.
Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that produces custom-fitted real hair for children younger than 18 who have suffered medical hair loss.
According to the Locks of Love Web site, www.locksoflove.org, 90 percent of its applicants have alopecia areata, an auto-immune disorder that causes hair follicles to shut down.
Thomas gave the first 5 inches of hair to Lacey’s mom, Lisa Martin, of South Paris.
“This is going right into Lacey’s baby book,” Martin later said.
Thomas said Lacey had 30 inches of hair, and even after the cut it would be considered long.
“I wanted to have it cut for a long time, but my mom wasn’t ready,” said Lacey, who is 12 years old.
“She just surprised me one day when I came home from school and said I could have it cut.”
Martin said Lacey has been old enough to decide about a haircut for the past several years, but she couldn’t bear to see her daughter’s locks go.
“Lacey is a giver,” Martin said. “It’s Christmastime and this will be a nice gift for some kid.”
jsmedley@sunjournal.com
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