A Tiny Love Letter To My Incredible Life Partner

Severe ME takes away so much of my physical identity. Clothes, makeup, jewelry are all gone. It's been 3 months since I washed my hair. But the fact that it is on my head at all is such an amazing expression of #loveby my incredible husband Hugh.

Every week, often more than once he takes a full half-hour brushing out and braiding my waist-length long hair. Without this investment of dedication love and time, I would have had to cut it off for the amount of tangled and matted hair that would have accumulated.

So often we see caring duties like this as above and beyond and I have incredible gratitude towards my husband for this dedication. But why is it we see anything absolutely nonessential as a luxury that disabled people are non-deserving of? Why is it that it is considered so normal for persons with ME to have no choice but to cut off their hair if they cannot brush it themselves?

Obviously, many would choose this option anyways, but I know for many it is a tragedy and it comes not out of there being no other option but simply out of a lack of care. Out of a lack of anyone willing to take the time to brush someone else's hair. Certainly, it would be a major hit to my mental health and self-esteem to lose my hair. Not to mention the many cultures in which cutting hair has significant cultural significance.

So here is a tiny love letter to my incredible life partner for caring for me beyond the ableism of our society. For making this beautiful act of love week after week. For letting me keep my hair and my dignity in every way you can.