WriteRunRead Blog

There’s a new (at least I think it’s new) phenomenon happening on college campuses at graduation time all over the country: staged photo shoots of graduates scheduled days in advance of the actual ceremony. Young women organize the photo events around campus, tending to every last detail from the color of their dresses (white or cream), hair and makeup, to the iconic locations throughout the particular school. On the positive side, students will be sure to have beautiful memories of their friends, how they looked and their favorite places on campus. That’s incredible, to be able to look back on stunning smiling faces, joyous and thrilled to have journeyed successfully to this point. The young women achieved so much: finding their path, living independently, making new and lifelong friends, and growing up. It’s truly a defining moment in their lives.  I hope when our young students look back at these staged photos, they also remember the nights studying, the hours in class connectin...

Two years ago today, I dyed my hair to cover the persistent gray roots that had become the bane of my curls’ existence. At that moment, I did not realize that it would be the last time. We can all remember that fated week in March 2020, when nothing would ever be the same.  Prior to this moment and for quite some time, I had considered letting my gray roots grow. I had no idea what it would look like or even how much of my brown hair would be gray. Anytime I mentioned it to friends, family members, and even my colorist, everyone strongly discouraged me from letting it happen. I heard reactions like: “why would you do that?” or “you’re too young” or “it will age you” or “you shouldn’t let yourself go…”  When the Pandemic hit and hair salons were shuttered and friends were frantically purchasing up store bought dye kits, I started to think, why not now? Let it go gray. It was a good time to try it out: I was stuck in my house, working from home, no friends could see me, and thin...