Our Gray Hair

Vanessa has a vulnerable story to share. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 triple-positive breast cancer in 2017, which is the most aggressive kind of breast cancer anybody can get. After losing all her hair during the cancer treatment, she no longer cared about the color of the hair. All she cared about was the function of her hair. Aging is always a privilege.

Welcome to Jackie's story. You might wonder why her hair doesn't look that gray but she's here in this series. The way I look at it - we all have gray, either a little or a lot. We do not age over one night, thus we don't turn gray within one day. In her mid-30s, Jackie is already making peace with her gray. See what she has to say.

SOUND ON, and thank you for watching and sharing.

This week we will hear the story from Jackie.

This week we take a listen and see what nana has to say:)

She is married to my photography mentor Dr. Kelly. The first time I met her was at a little concert in Carleton University's music department. She came in with Dr. Kelly, whom I respect tremendously. She let her hair down that evening, and it was stunning. I was so curious who was the person under that elegant hair?

In one of our later conversations, Dr. Kelly told me that her smile lights up any room that she enters. He loves that about her. I agree. Look at her smile.

I had the honor to interview Darlene thanks to this project. What's even better is that I was invited to Dr. Kelly's home. He happily sat next to me during the entire filming. He looked proud:)

Shannon just doesn’t take any bs. She is confident when she talks. And she is a great listener who offers useful feedbacks.

I worked with Shannon very briefly at Carleton Univeristy. I remember myself in awe of her endless energy and youthfulness, yet I always wondered how old/young she is because of her grey.

Talking to her made me question, how old is old enough to have grey? Who makes that norm?

Please feel free to share Shannon’s story. Merci!

This week we bring you the story of Shannon.

She was the beginning of my appreciation of grey hair.

The first time I met her was 10 years ago in The Manx. I was meeting my documentary mentor Michael Ostroff, and she was waitressing that evening. She had a bun on top of her head, and that bun was grey.

I have to admit that I just couldn't move my eyes away from her. She was just so beautiful. I never had the courage to talk to her in person. She looked way too cool. And I remember thinking oh wooah people can still look so great in grey!

I have been wondering about her story for years and years. After all those fruity beers, and sundried tomato hummus dishes, and having the first date with my husband at the pub...I never ever had a single conversation with her.

Ten years later... Finally, I had the courage to shoot her a text on Instagram. I explained my project and she texted me back. Yes, she texted me back!

Here we go - sharing her story with all of us. And yes, she IS super cool just as I thought. Enjoy.

Welcome to our second week.

”When my hair was gray, I was invisible”, Linda told me.

SOUND ON

Caitlin Renneson was a paralympic medalist before becoming a creative writer. Her attitude toward her gray hair really surprised me.

SOUND ON.

For the next 20 weeks, you will hear my friends' stories about why they keep their gray hair. Let's first start with Caitlin.