In sharing their locks, children discover lots of love
Published: July 4, 2007
After Katie Norton donated her ponytail to charity, she tried to get two other Girl Scouts to do likewise.
“Do it, please?” she begged Megan, her 12-year-old sister, and Phoebe Pearson, Megan’s 13-year-old friend.
Megan and Phoebe had not planned on getting their locks trimmed at Monday’s hair-cutting event to remember a 10-year-old girl who had a big heart. But 100 or so other people attended the event for that very purpose.
Their hair was tied in a ponytail, measured to a 6- or 10-inch length, and snipped. The ponytail went into a bag. Then, stylists from the Taylor Brooks Salon and Spa in Alpharetta worked their magic on the hair left intact.
On Monday, dozens turned out for “Chops for Locks — Remembering Erica 2007,” a six-hour event held at Grace Fellowship Church in Snellville.
Last summer, Erica Paige Whitney of Lilburn was killed in a car crash just south of Augusta. The rising fifth-grader at Mountain Park Elementary was returning home from Myrtle Beach, S.C., with her family.
Erica had a favorite charity: Locks of Love, a Florida-based nonprofit that provides hairpieces and wigs to kids who lose their hair because of medical conditions such as cancer. She had donated her own hair once and had plans to do so again.
So the family hosted Monday’s hair-cutting affair to honor Erica and to benefit the nonprofit. Wendy Stoner, Erica’s mom, and Erica’s siblings, Emma Stoner, 3, and Gracie Whitney, 7, were the first customers at this inaugural event.
“When school lets out, it’s going to be crazy,” Stoner predicted early Monday. “Lots of kids.”
When it comes to hair, Erica’s father, Rodney Whitney, is as slick as an onion. He kept busy stocking snacks and beverages made available for the donors.
“It’s rough,” Whitney told me. “My way of dealing with it is to think of all the great memories, the 10 great years we had together, all the great things we did. She taught me things. I taught her things. She made me a better person.”
Erica would have turned 11 last Thursday. The family held a celebration by her graveside at Floral Hills Memorial Gardens off Lawrenceville Highway. They shared a cookie cake.
Dad and the girls sang a line from a skit they saw on “That’s So Raven,” a Disney show.
“Do you like your turkey fried?”
It’s a line they often sang with Erica. She liked putting on a show, playing recreational sports and participating in the Girl Scouts. A flier was circulated within the Girl Scouts’ family to let scouts like Katie Norton know about Monday’s event.
Katie’s hair grows about an inch a month, so she’ll be able to donate again about this time next year. She probably will.
“If I had cancer, I would want a wig,” she told me.
Before I left the church, Katie’s sister, Megan, and her friend, Phoebe, approached Katie.
“We talked about it,” Megan announced. “We’re going to do it.”
And they did.
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