A Hairy Tale by Irene

A Hairy "Tale"
by Irene

I grew up hearing my mother, Edna, tell about the time her sister, Myrtle, cut her hair without her knowledge while she was asleep on the couch. When I asked my Aunt Myrtle about it a few years ago she told me; “That story is Edna’s story. Here is the real tale.”

Once upon a time in a small town called McAlester and in a state called Oklahoma, there lived two sisters. Their names were Edna and Myrtle. The year was 1935 and the sisters were anticipating their high school graduation. On the radio they listened to music by Big Bands like Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Duke Ellington. All of the young people in town were listening to songs such as Ain’t Misbehaving, I Get a Kick Out of You, It’s Only a Paper Moon and East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and dancing to One O’clock Jump.

Now, the popular hairstyle of the day was called a ‘boyish bob’. Edna looked in the mirror at her long thick braids and wished for short hair. She went to her father and asked,”Please Daddy may cut my hair?" I am so tired of these braids.”

Her father answered, “No baby, your hair is your glory. You cannot cut it.”

“Please, please, please, Daddy,” Edna begged.

“I said NO!” her father answered.

However, Edna wasn't one to give up easily. She had always been stubborn. So, she grumbled and complained to anyone who would listen (and even some who didn’t want to) about her hair.

Her sister, Myrtle, finally got tired of hearing her complain about it.

“Come on” she said. “I’ll cut your hair for you. I am sick of hearing you complain.”

Myrtle rummaged around, found a big pair of scissors and set to work. Neither girl thought to take down those hated braids first. It wasn’t easy but Myrtle finally had those braids whacked off. But, when they looked in the mirror they were shocked. Edna’s hair looked awful. It was all uneven and looked nothing like the bobbed hairstyle she was expecting. The girls knew that they were in deep trouble so they found a hat, put it on Edna’s head and pulled it down to cover her hair. They hoped fervently that their father would not notice. (Any parent could have told them that that was not going to happen.)

When their father came home he, of course, discovered what they had done (you just knew he would.) When he looked at Edna’s ravaged head, he could only exclaim, “Your cut off your glory”

The cut was so horrible that Edna had to go down to the local barber shop to see if the barber could even it out and make it look presentable.

Although it was not exactly the way she had planned it, Edna did get to march at her graduation wearing her ‘boyish bob”.

Irene described a hair-raising event in a delightful way, did she not? Imagine Daddy finding out what his two girls had been up to. Oh my. I bet he found out her glory didn't leave her after all. I love the fact that Irene attached the before and after photos of her dear mother. What a doll with or with out all that hair. I'm looking forward to more of these great tales, Irene!

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