The day he finally cut his hair, his mother cried before the scissors even touched it.

When she first lost her hair after childbirth, she tried to pretend it didn’t matter.

At twenty-five, she bought scarves in soft colors and practiced smiling in mirrors. She learned how to answer questions casually when people stared too long.

But children notice sadness even when adults hide it carefully.

And her son noticed everything.

He noticed how she touched old photographs from before the hair loss.