Competition and Hair Maintenance

Suzette BrawnerGeneral

I’m not much of a game player. I think it all started in college when the definition of Date Night was spending three intense hours playing cards or a board game with other newlyweds. When you put three or four university football players around the table with their wives for a friendly game of Spoons or Coup Fourré the competition is no less than Saturday afternoon on the field. It’s serious. Women in tears is not my definition of fun.

Don’t get me wrong; I have a very competitive side. At a resort in Barbados I was chosen for a limbo contest. Every one cheered as the woman 15 years older than everybody else made my way to the floor. I’m sure the activities director thought it would make for a lot of laughs. Go pick on someone else. I won.

A few years ago I found myself in the middle of a newly wed type game. Jim Brawner and I have been married forever so I thought we were taking everyone else DOWN! It was all going as planned until I was asked this question: What flower would your husband compare you to in the morning: Sunflower, Snapdragon or Bird of Paradise?

No question, Snapdragon. It takes me an hour on autopilot to wake up. I was stunned when his answer was Bird of Paradise. Thinking he meant I was regal and beautiful in the morning, I smiled and thanked him. How sweet! Then in typical Jim Brawner style he clarified, “Your hair stands straight up and looks just like a Bird of Paradise plant when you wake up.” Poof! Romantic moment vaporized.

In reality my hair is pretty scary at dawn. Hair maintenance for me takes some time. Jill sent me a quote yesterday: “Always remember, it’s better to arrive late than to arrive ugly.” I’m also a bit concerned about frightening small children.

When I was walking through the lobby of a hotel recently the door man said, “Well aren’t we having a good hair day today!” What is that supposed to mean?

Some days are good hair days and some not so much. When I think about all my friends who have lost their hair, and some of them their lives, in hand-to-hand combat with cancer a little Bird of Paradise in the morning is a privilege.