Yesterday evening in the midst of a typical hair blowout, I was struck by the poise and social consciousness of one 16 year old girl. Her name was Alana, and she had decided to donate her beautiful long dark raven colored hair to "Locks of Love", so that a girl who really needed hair, lost to chemo and cancer, could once again feel pretty with a wig made of real hair from the heads of confident, giving girls like Alana. Alana's mother beamed with pride as she flashed photo upon photo, to memorialize her daughter's kindness and firm resolve to be part of the solution to making our world a better place, one selfless deed at a time.
Alana, a 16 year old young woman, told me she was a high school student at one of NYC's specialized high schools. She aspires to go to culinary school after she graduates, which is'nt for a couple years yet, but she's responsibly getting ready. I'd been done with my own blowout by now, but just could,t tear away. The hair salon,Never on a Sunday, by the way,the friendliest place in all of Flushing, hands down, was busting with community pride for this young woman, so full of quiet self knowledge. Hey, weren't we all mothers? Hadn't we at one time all been daughters? Wouldn't we all want one like Alana? She inspires hope in us all. There are so many caring young people out there. It's important to remember that, among all the talk of Gen Y's focus on just having fun, texting, social networking and "whatever", there are seriously good people out there, and they are our future. Cia and Kathy,( the owners of Never on a Sunday, located near the corner of 172 St and Francis Lewis Blvd.) were lucky witnesses and conduits for good. Alana was the protagonist, and she inspired us all. Some young girl who may have lost her own hair to cancer will soon have a beautiful wig made of Alana's locks. North Queens is proud of you Alana, very proud.