Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Random Acts of Kindness


Several years ago, my child was working with vulnerable youth in a residential facility. One of the teenagers returned to the house after weeks of in-patient psychiatric care and when she returned, she had a huge area of matted hair at the base of her neck. Her hair was waist length and brushing out this huge knot was going to be a project. The house didn’t have a good comb or any of the other things needed and there was a sense of urgency as this young girl had to return to school the next morning.

I was called and went to CVS and purchased anything I thought would help- several types of combs and brushes and hair ties. When I arrived, I got straight to work and little by little worked this matted area loose. It took several hours of steady work, but in the end, the girl had a lovely tangle free braid and a new array of hair stuff to keep it well managed.

Two things kept running through my mind. The first was about the focus on self-care in the world of mental illness. Whatever happened to this girl that caused her to be admitted clearly left her unable to tend to her hair without assistance. And nobody working at the hospital had over two undivided hours to dedicate to getting her hair free of tangles.

 The second thing that kept running through my mind was that she was expected to go to school, regardless of how her hair appeared. All I could think of as I drove home was if we had not helped her, this mentally fragile child would have had to go to school with her hair a mess- opening her up to the ridicule that too easily flows in High School. At least she was protected from that.

My daughter recently reminded me of this story- it clearly made an impression on her. I honestly had not thought of that young girl since the night I helped her comb out her hair. I hope she is happy and safe in the world.

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