By Nikki Baldauf, Associate Production Editor at Bloomsbury Publishing 
Ann, 64, mother of three and grandmother of seven from Cincinnati, Ohio, is an x-ray technician, a small business owner and a world traveler. She first developed alopecia areata as a young girl. Ann spoke openly about her experiences, her attitudes and how her feelings about having alopecia has changed during different phases of her life. Her friend Sandy offers colorful perspective — and admiration.
Ann: “For most of my life I’ve lived without hair.”
“I had my first patch of alopecia when I was about 7, so about 56 years ago. I had varying amounts of hair from then on. I’d had intermittent re-growth from time to time, but I’ve worn wigs a lot over the years. My mom always would buy me the best wig possible, and that was great. You know, way back when I was a kid, there was some places where you could get a nice human hair wig and that’s what I would wear, and then some of my hair would grow back in enough that I could take it off and I would!”“Then about 35 years ago (age 29), I lost all my hair and have not had ANY hair since then.”
Sandy: “I have to say that Ann has never let her alopecia get in the way of what’s most important, and that is who you are as a human being.”
“Ann and I have been friends since we were in high school. We were in grade school together but we weren’t actually really good friends until high school, when we dated two best friends. Then the boyfriends went away and we remained friends for over forty years.”
“So I was around when Ann started losing her hair. She was going through some terrible ordeals. This was a while ago, when I don’t believe there was a lot of good information about alopecia and at that time, as far I knew, we were in the dark. Ann’s hair would fall out on the sides of her head, maybe even on the top of her head, and she would try to cover it up or figure out things to do but then it would come back! Or then her hair would fall out completely, but then it would come back! When she finally figured out what it was, then we were able to know what it was, I think in some way it was a comfort to everybody. But it took a long time to know.”
Ann: “I just laughed it off!”
“A lot of times, before they had these great gripper and suction kind of wigs, I had my hair knocked off. And I just laughed it off and put it back on!"
“When I was younger, it happened when I was actually in Europe. I went to Europe for a whole summer with my good friend [Sandy] — who is still a friend and has been since grade school — and there were a couple of incidences where my hair got knocked off and she and I just laughed it off. Sometimes I wonder how I was so able to do that. But when I was younger I really did, I just traveled, I did whatever, and I kept hair on most of the time. I have pictures from Europe that year — I think I was just 19 or 20. I wore a scarf over my hair from time to time, but jeez, I did everything!”
Sandy: “There was a whole musical named ‘Hair!’ It wasn’t easy being an adolescent and losing your hair.”
“Ann and I went to Europe together when we were sophomores in college, I think it was 1968 or 1969, and at that time Ann wore a wig. We were young, and we just had a lot of fun! It was just a very different time. The Beatles had just become popular, and it was a great time to live through. But you can still imagine how difficult it was, especially when hair was … well, there was a whole musical named ‘Hair!’ It wasn’t easy being an adolescent and losing your hair. I’m sure it’s not easy for anyone, at any time, but it certainly wasn’t easy [for Ann]."
Ann: “When my oldest daughter went to middle school, it was a big turning point for me.”
“At one point I hadn’t had any hair for maybe five years. I was still dealing with not having any hair and it was looking to be pretty sure that I would never get any back at that point. And I was pretty open about it. I would talk to friends about it. I wore scarves most of the time. It was back in the 70s and 80s, and people wore scarves more often. And I had someone at a makeup place help me put on eyebrows and taught me how to do a few makeup tips, and that helped a lot, and I even went on a TV show!"
“However, when my oldest daughter went to middle school, it was a big turning point for me. She and her friend had gotten in an argument about something I guess, and her friend said, ‘I’m going to tell everyone at school that your mother doesn’t have hair!’ And that shut me up. And I’ve really never talked publicly about it since. I thought, ‘If my children are going to suffer because I don’t have hair, then forget it. I’ll just keep it to myself.’ And that’s what I’ve done. I’ve just pretty much not talked about it."
“Some of my friends know, but I do not talk to about it to most of them. Some of them I don’t even know if they know or not. It’s just kind of been a non-issue.”
Sandy: “Ann is the kind of person who can make friends with anybody.”
“I have to say this: I’m pretty biased — I love Ann dearly — but Ann is the kind of person who can make friends with anybody. She’s just always been like that, wherever she works, wherever she goes. So in that way, I have to say that she has never let her alopecia get in the way of what’s most important, and that is who you are as a human being.
Ann: “In public I wear hair, at home I don’t.”
“I don’t go wigless out in public. Never have. And when I met Thea [Chassin] for the first time a few years ago, there were just three of us [there]. She and the other lady did not wear hair. I did. And I felt bad! (laughs) I was like, ‘Well maybe I should take mine off too,’ and Thea kept saying ‘No! No, you don’t have to take yours off!’ And so I didn’t!"
“My husband is fine with it. When I first met him, I had some hair. I don’t think I was wearing a wig when I first met him. But he’s never cared, he’s very much not into how things look — and he always has been that way. He’s an unconventional kind of guy. He doesn’t care."
“A woman who came from Indianapolis to talk to me said that she never went without hair. Never. Her husband never saw her without hair. Now that I found odd! I guess there are all different schools of thought when it comes to not having hair. And for me it’s been more of a private thing, for her it was never, and for Thea it’s whenever! (laughs) And I guess there’s everything in between.”
Ann: “I think there are enough of us with no hair, but we’ve kept it in the dark for so long that people just don’t know that we’re around.”
“I certainly feel pretty comfortable talking to anyone who wants to talk to me about [alopecia] but I don’t bring it up. There’ve been two instances in recent years where people have come to me to talk about it and I’ve just talked to them like I’d be talking to anybody about the flu or something, it’s really no different."
“My sister-in-law had breast cancer — she was actually diagnosed a little over a year ago. She went through tons of chemo and she lost her hair right away. My husband and I would call her several times a week to check on her, make sure she was doing alright. And she would say “ Well, I’ve lost all my hair, but I’m not going to complain about it because I know that I shouldn’t complain to you about having lost my hair!” (laughs) And I was like “No, you can complain about it! Go ahead!” But maybe, because she knew me, it wasn’t as big a deal to her as it would have been if she didn’t know anyone like me. So we probably have a role to play in all of that.”
Sandy: “I don’t think I’ve ever really told her what a great human being I think she is.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever really told her what a great human being I think she is. She’s always been very supportive of anybody around her who’s had any kind of challenge or needs support, and maybe that’s what she’s taken from her alopecia. Maybe that’s something that has helped make her stronger because she knows what it’s like to deal with a challenge.”
Bald Girls Do Lunch is the only nonprofit created specifically to help women with alopecia areata cope, gain confidence and feel a sense of community.
