look boys, no hair!

Last night I got to do one of my favorite things: I had a video chat with my grandsons.  (7-year-old twins & a 5-year-old)

Jonah, Micah, Jeremiah

Now, this is nowhere as great as actually being with them and having them hug all over me, and all talk at once, and shove each other out of the way, and compete for attention… well, come to think about it, the only real difference is the hugs.

Video chat is much better than phone for the obvious reason – picture.  However, we had not had a video chat since my hair came out, so this chat had some interesting differences from our usual conversations about school, video games, and funny faces (usually involving some configuration of tongues being stuck out and eyes being pulled painfully down with fingers).

green knit cap

At the start of the chat I had my favorite little green knit cap on.  I talked to each of the twins for a short time and they didn’t notice anything different.  However, they are often pretty distracted by the picture-in-picture of themselves, and only look at me occasionally, unless I am showing them something amazing like a water bottle or the inside of the refrigerator.  My son, the boys’ dad, asked them to all come by the computer together and listen to me.  This was unusual enough that they all sat quietly, realizing that something different was happening.

I told them, “We just found out recently that I have a sickness called lymphoma.  The really good news is that I am going to be ok.  But, it will take a while and I need to take some very strong medicine to get rid of the sickness, and this medicine can do some strange things while I’m taking it.  One of the things it does is make my hair fall out, so your Nana is bald now.”  Well, of course they wanted to see, so I popped the cap off, and under the overhead light, my head, now just barely fuzzy, shone like Mr. Clean.

Mr. Clean!

There are some things you can’t teach, they are just inside people or they aren’t.  Within one second of seeing my bald head, three little voices spoke at once, “I like you just the same, Nana”, “You’re still pretty, Nana”, “Nana, I love you anyway, it doesn’t matter.”  I was touched and blessed by the loving words, but twice as touched and blessed to see once again the loving hearts of my grandsons.

Then, of course, there were lots of questions.  Will it grow back?  Why did it fall out?  Am I sure I will be better?  They wanted to see me in my wig, which did pass their fashion approval test. Eventually Micah, who has always been my cuddler, said, “I don’t like this.  It feels like a dream.”  His dad and I talked to him a little more about how sometimes surprising things happen that feel strange, but the important thing was that I would be ok.  Micah said, “This has definitely been an unexpected Tuesday.”  Kid really cracks me up.    We all said goodnight, and honest little Jeremiah, the five-year-old, closed out by saying, “But I did like your hair last time better.”  So did I, Jeremiah.  But it will come back.

the hair last time

Parents rejoice when their children turn out well; wise children become proud parents.
So make your father happy! Make your mother proud!  Proverbs 23:24-25  MSG