A Daily Ritual

I've forsaken a daily ritual for about a week. My last shave was six or seven days ago, and my face itches. But I think I'll let the beard grow. I've been back and forth about it lately. Especially now that it's in that "awkward stage". Stubbly, itchy, downright uncomfortable. And I think it sort of makes me look a little unkempt.

My father's facial hair was thick, thick, thick. Toward the end of his life, the hair on his chin and lower cheeks was white. My mom had asked him to grow a beard. He refused ... said it was too uncomfortable. She was so enthusiastic about the idea because she'd seen him with a short beard once when he was bedridden from an illness. She thought he looked "soooo handsome" with a beard. I was always curious to see what he looked like with a beard. Ultimately, the two of us sort of ganged up on him, and begged him not to shave.

I think we got him to abstain from shaving for about a week. Maybe a little longer. That's when I saw the thick white stubble. It reminded me of those older, tougher heroes in westerns. The guys who are old, but not ... elderly. Still strong enough to crack open the can o' whip-ass when folks get out of line. Dad shaved it off. He said, "I'm sorry. I just can't stand it, my face is so uncomfortable."

My beard isn't as thick. One of my brothers has a nice, full beard. Another brother has hardly any hair on his face at all. I'm somewhere in the middle. I seriously doubt it will grow any fuller with age; at 30, I'm just about done with puberty. And about eight months ago, I found a gray hair on my chin. A couple of weeks ago, I saw that another is beginning to turn gray. Maybe I'll be fortunate ... maybe the beard will turn white as I age.

The last time I wore a beard, it received mixed reviews. My sister strongly dislikes it. Mom seems to like it, but seems a little saddened that it makes me look older. A couple of ladies at work gave me compliments. A couple of ladies from school asked me to shave it. One buddy of mine said "Dude, what's with the terrorist look?" All this feedback came after I'd had weeks to let it grow out. I think at this early stage, I don't look so much like I'm growing a beard. I look more like ... I'm not shaving.

*sigh*

Yeah, that's a good way to describe it. When a man has thick facial hair, and he stops shaving, people ask "Oh, you're letting the beard grow, huh?" When you don't have thick facial hair, people ask, "How come you're not shaving?" It's a tough row to hoe y'all. Tough.

Well, however we choose to characterize this little project of mine, I ain't shaving. I'm tired of the daily ritual. The razor burn. The switching to electric instead of disposable. Shaving for ten minutes, and then looking in my rear-view mirror to find that I still missed a spot. And don't get me started on the ingrown hairs! So ... I'm done shaving for a bit. My face needs a break. And it's cold in Michigan during the winter. So the yeas have it; we're growing the beard. Or not shaving, if you prefer.