Silver Glory

Hair was a topic of conversation in our family while growing up on Pleasant Street. We were cursed (and blessed) with curls. Everyone was envious and I carried the burden of feeling like a freak until I learned all the tricks of hair straightening like wearing jumbo orange juice cans to bed each night, ironing, wrapping it around my head bound tight with gigantic bobbie pins.

When I met my husband, he had blonde straight hair worn in a Justin Bieber sweep. Little did I know until we were engaged and he moved in with our family until the wedding, that he had his own bag of tricks to tame his mane. A fond memory is him is sitting under my table top portable dryer at the kitchen table with his hair wrapped in a net. I thought to myself, "This is cool, another thing we have in common."

We started our new life by moving to Denver where his roots began. Just a few weeks later, Uncle Sam had other plans. He went to boot camp where they sheared his golden locks. When we were reunited, his hair was buzzed and brown. Looks were important and I remember searching in my heart to overcome the shock of being married to this stranger.

Over the past 40 years, my husband's hair has evolved. The brown color stayed (for a while); curls became acceptable. Through the years, pepper sprinkled with salt became salt with pepper. It eventually became coarse and short and mostly silver.

When I was much younger, I used to get teased for favoring men with silver locks. Sean Connery, Richard Gere, Harrison Ford. Most recently I added Daniel Craig as my favorite, especially since my spouse is a look alike. (He's a big James Bond fan so he's happy with the comparison.) Each year that passed over the last 20 years, I fondly expressed to him that I waited a long time for his spicy crop.

Recently, his hair stylist planted a seed about reducing the silver when he shared our recording session story. She joked and said, "If I were you, I'd change the color before you start your tour!" And with that he took a dive into the youth culture and reversed time by about 15 years.

No one else noticed, not even our roomie, Mom. But when I came home from work, I noticed it immediately, which really surprised him. It looked natural; I could see how it would go unnoticed. But the color and texture were incongruent. It was like meshing tones of the 90's with the current James Bond style.

I love to wake up next to my James Bond every morning. I love to see the silver streaks glistening in the sunlight. It sends shivers down my spine. I told him he has to be happy with the way he looks. I think he's made his decision. His beard is subtly back to normal. I hope in a few short weeks, he'll be back to normal, streaming live in silver glory.