The Wendy

I like to post blogs that are personal and thoughtful in nature as well as business oriented. This one is very personal. I share it to remind us to savor the moment and Carpe diem.

Six years ago, I decided to stop dying my hair and to allow it to grow out naturally. I knew I would need help and was more than a little frustrated since my hairdresser of 18 years had moved to Spain. One Saturday afternoon, I trudged all around Marin County (north of San Francisco) trying to see if any of the hair salons would take me as a walk-in customer. All the receptionists looked at me like I was crazy; it was a busy Saturday and no one had any time for a new customer.

Disappointed, I started to drive home but before I could get there, my car literally turned into a parking lot. It was as if the car was driving itself. I parked in front of a small salon behind the neighborhood Safeway. My interest was immediately piqued when I saw a mermaid clock and mermaid table at the entrance t the salon. All the hairdressers were working on clients, so I sheepishly (well for me anyway), asked if anyone could cut my hair. The lady at the desk glanced over to a young woman sitting on a couch reading a People Magazine. I assumed she was waiting to get her hair done. It turned out she was the owner’s niece and was just hanging out. The lady at the desk called out to her and said, “Hey Wendy, do you want to take this?” The young woman looked me up and down with amusement and said, “Sure.” (She was amused because I was literally wearing a bib due to the fact I was sick of spilling coffee on my clothes when driving and had forgotten to take it off when I got out of the car). Then the woman at the desk, who turned out to be Wendy’s aunt, looked at me and said, “Are you a very lucky person!” I said actually I was quite blessed and she said, “I thought so, because she is a really good hairdresser.”

Wendy and I connected immediately. She gave me a spiky haircut and I was so excited I ran home and got her a gift (one of my husband Bill’s photography books because she had connections to the people who own the Inn next to our property in Gualala). I brought it back to the beauty shop with a note saying, “ In my family, the day you find a great hairdresser is cause for celebration.”

We had the sweetest relationship these past six years. I believed she was literally brought to me in a magical way and I always called her ‘The Wendy,’ (like in Peter Pan). She was sitting on that couch the day we met because she had just moved back to California from Hawaii. I was her first client and she wasn’t even sure she was going to start practicing her craft again.

It turned out that she decided to have a baby instead of building a practice. I was one of her only clients and she did my hair at her Mom’s house just a few blocks from mine. It wasn’t the salon at the Ritz. Instead, she washed my hair in the kitchen sink and cut it in the backyard. Her precious little boy, stocky and built like a bruiser, was always running around and charming us with his big smile. (He was so cute that you wanted to eat him with a spoon). Wendy adored him. I loved Wendy and she loved me. What I gave up in fancy I received tenfold in talent and care. I would share my keynotes and travels and she would share stories about her family. Every time we met she gave me a hug and said, “Oh Holly, you are so beautiful.” I felt beautiful around Wendy. We had a special bond. She brought me through the letting my hair go grey, then the deciding to dye it again and letting it grow out again, as well as the in-between period of wearing wigs. We always laughed and talked about the meaning of life.

Today I received this e-mail from her Mother:

“Oh Holly, I hate to send this. Wendy had a bad cold for 4 days,
then suddenly her heart stopped and she died.”

I am very sad. I will miss her and once again I am reminded of how precious every day is.