...about hair.

Time for another Johnson family story...

I am half Chinese. I can't speak Mandarin or Cantonese, I can't speak any of the over 800 Chinese dialects out there. I wish I could. I am proud of being half Chinese, although I don't really know exactly what being Chinese means. Growing up in a small town in the middle of British Columbia, not being around other Chinese people and not learning Chinese at home kinda means being half Chinese is more of an idea than a way of being. I love Chinese food though and I think Jackie Chan rocks! My own kids are very proud of their heritage and love to tell people that they are Chinese.

I know, they don't look very Chinese.

Anyways...

Growing up, the next girl-child after me is Ting, her proper name is Natasha and I have heard her being called Natty, Nat, Tash, Tosh, and Tasha, but to our family and to most everyone that loves her, she is Ting. This nickname comes from her Chinese middle name, Guy Ting (no hyphen). All of us siblings have Chinese middle names. Now, don't go quoting me on this because I don't really know if this is true, but this is what i remember my Mom telling me...my middle name is Guy Wah and it means something like "flourishing" or "abundance". Guy Ting means "willow-y". Rachel's middle name is Guy Ling, and apparently you can spell "Ling" several ways in Chinese and the way most girls named "Ling" are spelled, it means beautiful and refined, but after my Grandfather met Rachel, he changed her character and her "Ling" now meant "mischievous", and that suits her much better. Erika, the sister you met in my last story, her middle name is Guy Harn, her name is the funniest when translated...it means..."so beautiful that even the flowers turn their faces away", ho ho he he, something about her being to beautiful to look at. She got teased a lot about that as a kid. Darren, the boy, also has a Chinese name, his is Gar Yun, and right now, I can't remember what it means. Probably something about being a warrior or a stud or something. He has a lot of family hopes resting on his boy shoulders. He is the only boy to carry on the "Johnson" name and also the only boy on my mother's side.


Poor kid. Oh yah, my Mom is the Chinese one in our family. My Dad is pure white. Viking lineage he claims.

My kids and Ting's kids also have Chinese middle names. We had to carry on the family tradition. My grandfather, we call him Kong kong (means grandfather in Chinese), picks the names. I can't remember Ting's kid's names but Aislinn's is Chia Pi, which means "family precious jewel" and Mackendra's is Chia Yu, which means "family precious jade". I know Ting's kids names are related to precious gems of some type, I think pearl is one of them. She'll have to let me know later.

Anyways, I wanted to tell a story about Ting.

She is one hot babe!

Ting is the strong one in our family. I swear that girl can do anything she sets her mind to. She really is quite amazing. She decided that she wanted to play basketball in the States and she got herself scholarship to San Jose State and proceeded to become one of the top 10 scorers in her school's history. She even played with a broken back. I'm not kidding you even one bit. She had two fractured vertebrae and had to get epidurals (most mothers know what that is) to play one season. She then decided to become a Physical Therapist and put herself through PT school while looking after her 3 babies, by herself! She recently decided to flip her life completely 180 degrees and after 13 years living in the States, has come back to Canada, by herself!!! She is talented, funny, loving, intelligent and a great sister.

However, because I'm her big sister...I had a little sway in her life.

This story is called, "Trust me."

Ting has gorgeous Chinese hair. It is black and straight and she can grow it to her bum. She usually wore it long and all one length. At various times through her life she cut it, sometimes really short, but she always grew it back out. I was quite jealous of how fast she could grow her hair. She was always jealous about my waves.

We had a hairdresser that we used to frequent. Her name was Lori and we thought she was pretty cool. I would always sit in her chair and tell her to cut away. She was allowed to do anything with my hair, and most of the time I was pretty happy with the results. She didn't hold back. Sometimes...well sometimes I ended up with some pretty strange cuts. In grade six she basically gave me a buzz cut. Another time, it was an 80's perm. In grade 9 I had this asymmetrical 'do that was quite frightful, but I thought I pulled it off...I really didn't know anything about fashion back then...I still don't, but I do know, that that haircut wasn't good. But I was brave and Lori was adventurous and had creative license with me. Like I said, most of the time I could handle her haircuts. My waves were very forgiving. Ting wasn't so lucky.

Ting's stick straight hair refused to do anything but lie completely flat and glossy. In the 80's, that was so wrong. Big hair, big bangs, and spiky or frizzy or crimpy was the fad. Remember?

I think these girls were in my high school! Oh the hairspray!!!!!!!!!

Lori tried everything on Ting's hair. I remember a perm that went horrible poodle-like...actually more afro-y now that I think about it. The only good thing was that permanents in Ting's hair...weren't. They only lasted for 1 month. Mine would last all year! I also remember boy cuts and bowl cuts for Ting. We really didn't know much about hair, or hair products...and looking back...I don't think Lori did either.

Well, we had a hair appointment with Lori one afternoon. We were sitting, waiting our turn, flipping through the hair magazines looking for the next great hair style. I decided that I would be pretty tame this time, I was in the process of growing my hair out. But Ting...Ting was up for something new. We were debating the virtues of going with a perm again (we never learned) or maybe something avant garde.

"How 'bout this one?"


"mmmmmm...I don't know. What 'bout this one?"


"ha ha ha ha...ohmygawd! Look at this one, it is so weird! Mom would die!"

"But her earrings are so cool....and Chinese!"

"So, Ting, how about cutting your hair really short this time? You've never done that before. It would be so cool! It would be so easy to take care of. I think you should do it. TRUST ME, it'll be awesome! Come on, let's talk to Lori."

And...



...as Lori was lopping off Ting's lovely straight, black Chinese hair and pulling out the clippers and buzzing her head, I pasted a manic grin on my face and tried to keep the fear from showing in my eyes. I started to feel sick to my stomach as I watched Lori wield those clippers with impunity and Ting kept looking at the hair falling on the floor and back at my Judas visage. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I couldn't look away and yet it was so horrible. And Ting just kept looking at me for reassurance!

I'm so sorry, Ting. Really I am. I loved you and I made you do a terrible thing.

Can you ever forgive me?