Kevin Costner in the Bodygaurd Lookalike Haircut

Ben doesn’t say much, and when he does speak it is a reflection of his warped sense of humor.
The one feature that will spark comments is his hair. It’s a beautiful shade of dark auburn that can’t be mixed in a bottle. When he was a toddler I didn’t cut it short. I couldn’t understand looking at beautiful curls laying on the floor when they looked so good on his head.
He didn’t have any hair until he passed birthday number two. The front of his hair wasn’t cut until he was in kindergarten. Now he has more hair than his two siblings put together.
It was during his first year as a teenager he came to me on a hot, humid summer day and asked, “Mom, can we cut my curls off. They’re too hot.”. I knew then it was time to let him decide how he wanted his hair.
With my trusty shears and clippers I snipped and buzzed until he looked like a young man ready to face the world.
The change in his appearance drew a favorable response. He decided to keep it short, not because everybody like it, but because of the convenience of not having to comb it.
It was a week before I was scheduled to have foot surgery. I was diligently working to have all things I order. Cutting everyone’s hair was a priority. Momma’s intention was to stand as little as possible during the recovery of my left foot’s excision. As I stated before, Ben has lots of hair. With the old clippers I would buzz the back of Ben’s head twice in order to have the hair the right length. When I buzzed the back with the new clippers I discovered I didn’t need to do it again.
Once was more than adequate and I had taken of way too much hair.
I tried to match the sides with the back and top. To my surprise Ben was shorn almost to skin.
“Mom,” what did you to do him?” That was Josh’s reaction.
“Mom, he’s as sensitive about his looks as we are.” That came from Kristin’s observation of her now buzzed brother.
Tears began to stream down my cheeks. I was afraid I was going to be hated by the entire household. The reason being a set of hair clippers that were sharp.
“It looks stupid.” This was his reaction at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. As he rubbed his head he ran from the bathroom to his bedroom. KABOOM was the next sound we heard. He had kicked his door open instead of the preferred method of turning the doorknob. He jumped in his bed and covered his head.
I was distraught. “Ben, Momma is so sorry. Please forgive me. I wouldn’t do anything in this world to hurt you.
Ben’s choice of “game” is football. His position on the High School Football team was wide receiver.
The next morning when it came time to go to school, he didn’t want to go. I didn’t have the heart to make him go. I was the reason for the drastic change in his appearance. I knew it would be the focus of everyone’s conversation.
In my mind I could visualize, “Ben, who did that to you?”
Ben with his disgruntled voice would say, “My Mom.”
Again the I would hear. “Is she supposed to know how to cut hair?
“She’s supposed to do.”
When the next day arrived Ben jumped out of bed, got dressed and made his way to the bus stop.
This was the day of the last football game of the season.
As I walked in the door after working all day, I arrived home to find Ben grinning from ear to ear.
“Mom, all the football players rubbed my head for good. They told me I look like Kevin Costner in the “Bodyguard.”
That made it ok. His peers thought it was cool and the team won their football game.
Ben’s curls are still gone. He keeps his hair short. Again he keeps it short for convenience and to conform to Uncle Sam’s requirements for the military.
I now wonder if Kevin Costner will ever know what an impact he had on a young man because of a pair of hair clippers that were sharp.