October
2006
Rogue Stripes
by Barbara
“Rogue” stripes are what my daughter calls the gray/white strands at my temples. (Rogue is a character from the X Men comic books.)
My hair doesn’t like to lie in the neat bangs my hairdresser trims them into. It starts out that way, but things can change quickly on any given day. Days filled with personal summers - power surges - hot flashes will soon see me pushing my hair back from my forehead. That’s when the brightest of my Rogue stripes makes its appearance. Normally hidden underneath those neat bangs, they “pop” out in all their white glory when my hair is pushed back.
Gray hair and I go back a ways. I was 31, teaching 2 and 3 year olds in a pre-school. There was that one little kid. You know the one. Won’t/can’t sit still; won’t/can’t listen; won’t/can’t follow directions; that child can challenge a teacher or drive her to distraction. That child can cause a teacher to tear at her hair - or cause her first gray hair.
One gray hair - PLUCK! BOINGGGG! 3 gray hairs replace it - 5 gray hairs - 10 - too many to count.
My first response (after plucking) was a visit to my hairdresser. Every 4-6 weeks I was faithful and my hair went through shades of brown, blonde, and red. I did nothing too radical - being pretty conservative. This was prior to the wild and anything but conservative dye jobs of today.
My hair coloring days ended when I realized just how much of my hair was turning gray. I’d seen people let their hair grow out after coloring it for several years and I didn’t want the same thing to happen with me. There are few things less attractive than seeing all that white hair growing down over top of dark hair.
I decided to cut my losses while I could. I would stop while I still had more natural color than gray. Since then I have gotten a lot grayer, but you still have to look for the hiding Rogue stripes. They’ve been joined by stripes at my temples running the length of my hair. Whenever I pull my hair back behind my ears - or push my bangs back - the white shines.
Having the stripes - and even showing them off to the world - doesn’t bother me much any longer. You see, I’m at the high end of my 50’s now, and that one little kid is long ago grown up. He probably has his own little gray hair maker by now.
Me? I’ve seen my two daughters grow up and become mothers themselves. We traveled the road of pre and post adolescence together and I’ve watched as they’ve begun to raise their own children. We’ve come this far together - I’ve gotten my stripes the best way - I’ve EARNED them.
The Rogue Stripes by Violet Voices, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Written By: barbara
Posted under: Women's Voices . 
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I started going gray VERY early (the high school years) and I often debate with myself whether I should just “let it go” or continue to color it! Part of me is courious to see what it would look like if I just let it go. Trust me, there are a lot of them! Everytime I look at someone with beautiful stripes, I wonder if mine would look that great. I just have to get up the courage to try and see!
I have a daughter who wants to be a hairdresser. I am the guinea pig - literally. She really does an excellent job but lets me know when I need to color the gray. Hey, I’m 50. We are supposed to have a little grey, for character at least, don’t you think?
[...] Meredith has published one of my pieces at her website, Violet Voices. You can read about my Rogue Stripes there. Thanks, Meredith. [...]
I, too, started noticing the salt sprinkling itself amidst the pepper in my late teens/early twenties. At the time, I was too cash-strapped to consider eliminating the invaders with chemical warfare. Now, some thirty-odd years later they have pretty much taken over the land. Although I now have the means to deport them, I have granted them amnesty. In return, they have elicited compliments (from friends and even strangers)which I accept graciously. I carry them proudly - even the mavericks that refuse to conform to my “coiffing” expectations.
Lynn,
Thanks for an early morning smile as I wait for my coffee to brew - it is nearing 8 am here in Alaska land and the sun has yet to make its appearance. So, your bright reply has cheered me. Thank you!
Pajama Mama - have fun with it!
Kathleen - my daughter is the one who does the daring colors and such. It is not unusual to find her with auburn hair on top and bright teal green below. She is adventurous and so is her hairdresser.
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