Years ago, a high school friend performed a humorous reading "Poof! No Eyebrows!" by Patrick F McManus. It told the story of two boys who experimented with black powder, a bicycle seat, and a match. You don't need to hear the whole story to imagine how the author arrived at the title.
That reading crossed my mind many times over the last couple of months as we watched the chemotherapy change Michael's body. Michael has always been thin, so the weight loss was obvious but not alarming. He regularly wears his hair short in the summer, so he didn't look much different when he had his dad shave it close after the hair started thinning. But, oh, those eyebrows!
Shortly after his bone marrow transplant hospital stay, Michael lost his eyebrows and eyelashes. After all these months, he truly looked like a cancer patient. It was undeniable and somehow oddly shocking and discouraging. With all that he had faced, his little blonde eyebrows were the final straw for him. He started wearing one of his many hats or stocking caps. He would wear a hat when he went outside, when he was inside, when he ate, when he slept. He wore a hat all. the. time.
Time has passed now, and the hat-wearing is subsiding. Michael has new eyebrows, eyelashes, and a full (though short) head of hair. He's been hoping to trade his straight, light blonde hair for darker blonde, curly locks. I'm not sure that he'll get his wish, but he looks great. He looks . . . like Michael.
Eyebrows! I could never have imagined.
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