Oslo is bald for Charity

Last night Oslo did a very brave thing. He went up on stage in front of hundreds of people with lights shining on him and a man with a mic interviewing the shavees on why they were going bald for charity. I sort of wish we had showed up at the event site a little earlier so Oslo could have seen others before him be interviewed and get shaved, but we were in such a rush that we were ushered straight to the photo booth to do the before photo, given a St Baldrick's shirt to wear, and next thing he knew, he was on stage with two others being buzzed. It was an intense atmosphere and he couldn't seem to hear the questions through the speakers so kept saying "pardon" (thank goodness it wasn't "what") so finally the poor mc moved on to the next shavee, who happened to have raised over $40,000 for children with cancer! But I filmed the whole thing on my little snappy happy camera and will never forget his little face during it all and then when he saw his image in the mirror. He has always had a mop of hair and it sort of defined him so this is a huge huge change. As soon as it was over, he had his "after" photo taken and wanted to head straight home. He was a little overwhelmed by all the attention and intensity of scene. Not that being home was any more relaxing as Indigo and I can't keep our hands off his head. We keep trying to barter things in exchange for open ended head stroking. I am ashamed to admit that I even sneaked into his bedroom last night after he was fast asleep and lied there for a while just circling the incredible perfect roundness with that amazing smoothness and then resistance of his buzzed hair.

Today, I keep forgetting that he is bald now and he will suddenly appear and I do a double take. His completely shaven head is so humbling, not only for him, but also for the rest of us, in so many ways. It keeps reminding us of how lucky we are and keeps us aware that there are so many kids, and indeed adults, who are suffering with cancer, fighting it with chemo, and losing their hair as a result. But Oslo's baldness also haunts me with other atrocities, as I think he resembles those poor poor souls in the death camps of Nazi Germany and it further reminds us of how blessed we are with not only our health, but also our freedom. Oslo shaving his head is bringing awareness to our whole family in more ways that we realised.

Aside from all this awareness and thankfulness that the act of Oslo going bald has brought our family, we are also filled with pride. Oslo had set his target fund raising goal at $500, for he had never done anything like this before and so had no idea how generous people would be. He donated $50 of his own hard earned money, and I matched his donation, so he started off with 20% of his goal already met, but he never imagined he would raise over $2500! And apparently, the foundation is still accepting donations for shavees for another week so it is not too late for him to raise more!

So thank you so much to all of those who have already supported the cause - every donation has an impact and Oslo is so honoured by each individual and family I tell him contributed. And if you would still like to donate, here is Oslo's St Baldrick's page. All you have to do is mention Oslo in the comments section! And most of all, thank you Oslo for being such a sweet soul and doing something larger than yourself and out of your comfort zone on many levels - you made us all so proud. Love love love you too many oodles to mention. xxx