Chapter Six
Contents
And now it was my turn. “Joe” said Cathy, “Short, like the other guys?” I didn’t dare look at Meredith because I knew what she was desperately hoping. So I paused for a long time as though making up my mind. “No Cathy,” I said at last, “I’ve decided I’m going to donate again, and this time I want a head start. So give me a cut just like the one you’ve done for Christie and Meredith.” There was a shocked silence for a few seconds and Andy and Greg looked at me like I was crazy. Then Meredith began to laugh and the crowd erupted in applause. Well, I thought to myself, I might as well go for broke. So when Cathy had finished and handed me the ponytail, I looked in the mirror, shook my hair across my face and exclaimed: “Wow ! I love it.” That really broke everyone up.
The taping finished with the five of us facing the camera holding up our severed ponytails. Then there was mingling and chatter, pop and doughnuts. People came over to me and congratulated me on my “bravery”. I knew that I hadn’t influenced the decision made by Andy and Greg — they’d decided for themselves — but I couldn’t forget that Making A Difference had a whole other meaning for me. And now the motivation was stronger than ever. So I said that Andy and Greg were brave ones too and they should be congratulated.
People started leaving and things quietened down. When nobody was close by, my twin sister, my best friend, my dear alter-ego, came over to me. She brushed a strand of hair off my face and looked into my eyes with one of her biggest smiles ever. “You know what, Joanne?” she said, “some day you’re going to show Aunt Sally just how wrong she was.”
END
