your hair does not define you.

last friday, mercy high school held an extraordinary event. pantene beautiful lengths is a program where woman can donate their hair to make wigs for all

the woman out there going through chemo. they take 8in of your hair, combine it with 6 other ponies and voila! a wig. since rachel has single handedly

opened the eyes of hundreds of her peers on what it’s like to undergo cancer treatment, it was time for the students to give back in a very generous way.

at the assembly, there were a couple speakers, one of which is a young breast cancer survivor. she spoke about how your hair and breasts DO NOT

define you as a woman. her speech was moving and powerful. thanks for sharing your story.

then rach got up ans spoke a few words. which by the way, great job girlfriend! what did she have to say? THAT SHE’S DONE WITH CHEMO!!!

after a few tests coming up this week, i hope to report she’s officially in remission. how amazing is that? remember folks, she was stage 4b

hodgkins lymphoma. that, my friends, is the power of prayer. notice her dad says “power to the people!” lol. 😉 when it was john’s (her dad) turn

to speak, let me be the first to say…it was impossible for anyone to hold back tears. even himself choking up speaking of how brave, strong and

beautiful his daughter is. how proud he is that she lives each day to the fullest, as should we all. and to always share your talents each day.

these were the ladies that actually signed up for the hair donation. many others stepped up and donated once they saw their friends doing it too. 🙂

something like 18 stylists gave their time to support the cause. but it didn’t take long for the students to steal the scissors and have fun chopping!

it was a very emotional event. i didn’t expect that i’d cry through the whole thing, but i did. cancer has actually hit a lot closer to home this month and it was

very hard to fight those tears thinking of the months that lay ahead for my family. more on that later…. 🙁

little sisters, moms, staff, and mercy alum were all invited to the event.

erin is one of rachel’s good friends who had the pleasure of shaving rachel’s head so it was only fair to switch roles, right? 🙂

both of her sisters donated too. 🙂

when rach was diagnosed last august, we talked about doing this program and i immediately started growing out my hair. a solid 8-10in gone. 🙂

there you have it. before and after.

i was told over 100+ people donated. WOW. WOOOOOW. awesome. i love when people do stuff like this. brings back a little faith in humanity.

remember the light the night walk we did? well Team Rachel raised the second highest amount of funds that night. and because of such

an impact our team had, they asked rachel to be one of the “honored heros” at this years walk. she’s invited to do a number of things with american

cancer society as well. how cool! i was honored to be part of such a wonderful event. i hope we are able to brighten a number of woman’s days.

jeremiah 30:17 “But i will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD.”

heart, melanie