Thursday, May 10, 2012

Pin-curls

Sunday I did pin-curls for my niece, Miss K. When I was a kid and got to stay at my Great Curly Gram's house, she would pin-curl my hair. It was her way to tame the frizz that was my hair. I can remember the tug of the comb and the feel of her fingers twisting the hair. Her fingers that were good at everything she ever put them to. I recall the smell of her home and how great her food always was!

All this comes to mind when telling Miss K about it when she asked if I had a curling iron. I laughed a little bit because my hair is naturally curly. I did tell her that I used to have a tiny one to get ringlets or to curl strands to frame my face. Then I told her about my Curly Gram twisting my hair to get the same thing. I told Miss K that my Gram didn't always have a curling iron or even a "hot iron" when she was younger, so she did a twist and pin to get her curls to style.


Miss K asked me to do that for her hair (super straight, btw), so after church, we sat and I took a turn at something my Curly Gram liked to do for me. Turns out it's rather meditative. Combing, dividing sections, twisting, and pinning over and over; untilled all the hair was twisted and pinned.


Then there is the waiting.  It wasn't so bad for me, but for Miss K it was tough! The pins poke and itch on top of the tiny hairs pulling... oh the pain of beauty:)! She got super excited to take them out and see the look we had achieved! A few released pins, some hair clips, bit of spray gel, and voila! Curls! She loved it!



The rest of the afternoon I watched the curls loosen and fade into a wave and thought of my great grand mother. I thought of deeper things like transience and letting go, but mostly I took a simple joy in Miss K's happiness. I miss you Curly Gram, thank you for all the times you did my hair!

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