On the other hand we have been thinking deeply about one of Matt's cousins who is unfortunately facing death at a very young age. The whole extended family has been worrying, praying and wishing for two years now that every new treatment will be the last. Sadly though his deterioration has been rapid and it all seems very near and very heavy.
.With this in mind J. has been growing her hair long for some time in order to have it cut short to donate the lengths to a charity which provides wigs to children. We thought about Locks of Love which is a US charity that performs an important service for poorer children but unfortunately they deal almost exclusively with children with Alopecia. So we found in the UK The Little Princess Trust which provides wigs for children with any hair loss problems. The dilemma is that wigs are available on the NHS so that there are no disadvantaged children in the UK without access to wigs however the quality, comfort, uses and styles of NHS wigs are not the highest. 
The Little Princess Trust provides wigs that are very versatile, comfortable, can be swam in and look real. This week as we made the appointment for J.'s haircut K. decided to take the plunge and was eager to join in. The results are 10 inches of beautiful blond waves and brown silky straight hair lopped off at the ears. I am very very delighted of the decision they both took in the face of terror of the unknown (J's first haircut ever and K.'s first time with short hair since she was 4) with the hope of helping a child who may be facing a bigger sort of terror.
Many thanks to the lovely women at Joannes in Verwood for making it a wonderful experience all round. E. was certain they would be a exquisite source of chatter, knowledge and local gossip and they did not fail!
The girls are thrilled. Now K. is the perfect image of me and it is hard to get J.'s name correct because Matt and I just see E. every single time we look at her.
