HARRISON – Eight-year-old Sadie Morin of Waterford admitted she was nervous, but she didn’t even wince as the hairdresser gathered her long, brown hair at the nape of her neck and took out the scissors.
Seated in a hairdressing chair at Paula’s Temple Hill Beautique on Friday, Sadie was resolute in her decision to donate her locks to Wigs for Kids, an Ohio-based nonprofit organization that makes wigs from real hair for young cancer patients.
Sadie wasn’t sure how she had come up with the idea. “I think I read about it,” she said after a moment’s hesitation.
Her mother, Rebecca Morin, reminded her that a friend from school had donated her hair to a similar program last year.
Sadie, her mother said, had not had short hair since “she was probably about 4.”
It had been a while since her 57-year-old grandmother, Rockie Graham, also of Waterford had short hair as well. But that didn’t hold her back. Graham had decided to join her granddaughter in the donation.
“(Sadie) told me about it and I thought it would be a fun thing for us to do together,” Graham said.
She held a small package of elastics as she helped Paula Leino, who owns Paula’s Temple Hill Beautique, bind Sadie’s hair for cutting.
After measuring, Leino said Sadie had 16 inches of hair. “I have to get at least 10 to 12 inches,” she said, referring to Wigs for Kids’ requirements.
Within minutes, Sadie’s long tresses were shorn to a quick bob and it was time for Graham to take her turn.
Graham said the last time she wore short hair was about four years ago, after a couple days of 100-degree weather in the summer.
Wigs for Kids, she said, seemed like a great idea.
“I think it’s the ultimate recycling,” she said, “I really do.”
On Monday, Graham said she was adjusting to the short hair. Sadie, she said, looked adorable with her new cut and had even decided to go with bangs.
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