Yes is the answer to the question you are all asking... that large photo above that's me and my curly hair. It kind of defines who I am now. I truly can't imagine life without my curly head of hair, but I didn't always think so highly of it as a kid.
Growing up I always hated the way my hair looked. I always complained it was "too poofy" or didn't look like the other girls hair. I always tried to hide my curls in ponytails, braids and ballet buns. Even then my frizzy baby hairs would always stick out from the side of my head like a mad scientist or someone looking like they just got an electrical shock. Little me tried everything there was to hide my curls for so long. All through elementary school and the beginning of middle school the only day you would ever see me with my hair down was picture day or another special occasion and that was only at the insistence of my mom.
It wasn't until about 7th or 8th grade that I started to wear my hair down more, and begin to embrace my curly hair for all its worth. I never looked at my curls as being beautiful until people told me they were jealous of my hair. I always laughed, didn't believe them and told them 'you shouldn't be jealous because I am actually jealous of your straight hair'. It took me a very long time to finally realize that the curly brown hair on my head was unique and beautiful and that it is what made me truly special.
My curly hair became a 'symbol' you could say, of where I come from and who I am. My curls come from my dad's side of my family. My dad is Hispanic with dark brown curly hair and my mom is white with light brown straight hair. So I was blessed with my dad's curls and my mom's hair color. While my sister got my mom's straight hair and my dad's darker color. For the longest time I always wished I got my sister Caroline's hair, but hey what can you do? It was a lesson in learning to love what you were blessed with, even if that lesson took a good portion of my younger life. Oh and yes these fine people below are my parents and I.
My grandma who I think of as the Queen of Curls was ultimately the person who helped me learn to embrace my natural hair. She sent me boxes upon boxes of hair product in an attempt to help me control my curls and further love them for years on end until we found something that worked. She taught me everything I needed to know about curly hair so I wouldn't have the "poofy" hair I so deeply frowned upon as a kid. Her lessons were endless, but ultimately proved to be worth it. These days I not only love my hair the way it is, but also receive compliments about my natural hair quite frequently. Ranging from verbal compliments about if my hair really is natural to people even asking to touch it haha.
My hair is a labor of love sometimes, but immensely worth it because it defines me and makes me Emma. It makes me stand out in a crowd because not many other people have hair like I do. I've been blessed in my life to have found some fellow curly/wavy hair partner in crimes (shout out Elena) to teach the grandma hair lessons to, commiserate when the humidity strikes, or to reassure each other that our natural hair does look beautiful just the way it is.
So learn from me and love your hair. It is beautiful, it is gorgeous and it makes you, you. Be curly, be natural, but most importantly be you. Embrace those god given traits and never be ashamed of them. They define you, make you special and make you beautiful. So shrug off the people who ask why your hair is different and find those who embrace their natural hair 100 percent like you do. Be curly, be natural, be you and love your natural hair like I love mine.
