Last November, Special Education teacher Mrs. Michelle Sargent came back from Thanksgiving break with shorter hair. She’d donated the rest to Locks of Love in honor of her dear departed friend, Ms. Shannon Odom.

“You can also donate money to them,” Sargent said. “Locks of Love is great because they make the wigs for children who are cancer patients.”

Sargent had been planning the haircut since about October 2015, and on November 22, she went to a salon in the Oak Lawn area. While she knew that she could cut it herself at home, Sargent said she chose to go to a salon because she also wanted a cute haircut.

She’d helped Odom with her wigs while she was ill, so Sargent knew just how important it was for wigs to be made of natural hair. Odom had four wigs over seven years, and Sargent said one of them was obviously not made of real hair. That particular wig could not be styled like the others and was also more uncomfortable for Odom than the other three.

“I’d take the wigs home with me,” Sargent said. “I’d shampoo and style them and curl them and stuff. I love to do hair, but I only had a little boy so I never got to do girl hair. I’d use all kinds of products on them.”

While Odom was ill, Sargent made an effort to downplay her hair so as to help Odom feel better about hers.

“As she really missed her hair, I started realizing how unimportant it was,” Sargent said.

Sargent found all the information she needed on the Locks of Love website. Her hairdresser, a North Garland graduate, had done haircuts for people who wanted to donate before. He already knew what to do.

“He partitioned it all off,” Sargent said. “He measured it. He made sure it was all done the right way, and then he put it in a big bag for me.”

After getting her haircut Sargent simply followed the instructions on the Locks of Love website and mailed the four chunks of hair to Palm Beach, Florida. She said it was an easy process and recommends it for others who are not too attached to their hair.

“When she passed away, it sort of left a void,” Sargent said. “I was done doing all the things I used to do for her. It was just something else I could do. Sort of like a finish line.”