Teenage friend support

The secret was passed along today. I showed one of my best school friends a bald spot on the back of my head. The response, "Can I touch it?" The bald spot that alopecia areata creates is truly that, a bald spot. It doesn't look like a receding hair line or thinning hair. The spot is as smooth as a baby's bottom and quite symmetrical.

Other than a little shocked at the bald spot my friend really didn't have a response to the secret. I tried to explain what the disease entailed, but at that age I really did not even know much about it. After the reaction of "Can I feel it?" most people jump to "Will it grow back?" or "Does it hurt?"

By the time I attended college, I had only shared my secret with ten or so close friends. A rule among friends is that if you have something green in your front teeth, then you notify the person immediately. The rule was expanded in my case. My friends were on the lookout for the times when my hair folded in a way to reveal a bald spot. Their support in keeping me from having to explain my situation to a classroom of teasing teens was invaluable.

We have all gone in different ways now, but their way of protecting my sensitivities turned out to be an awesome blessing. Thank you.