The Professor (First Posted Apr. 11, 2011)

The Professor

He first came to her to cut his iron-straight hair when his regular barber retired.  She liked him right away and soon found herself looking forward to his inevitable return every six weeks, or so.

Early in their acquaintanceship he mentioned, as a matter of fact, that he suffers from depression.  She admired his honesty.  Over the course of the next few years she learned more and more about him – one haircut at a time.

She learned he is a highly educated man and the youngest son of a country doctor who took him on house calls when he was a boy in the hopes that he, too, would someday heal the sick.  Instead, he followed his heart and, eventually, became a professor at Queen’s University where he inspired young people with his ideas and his great, great love of learning.

She learned he adores music and that he plays the trombone – both at his church and at other formal occasions as a soloist - and at nursing and retirement homes as part of a group.  He has written about his belief that our innate response to primal rhythms arises from us listening to our mothers' heartbeat as we slowly form beneath her skin.

One sunny day he asked her to step outside into the parking lot after his haircut where she learned, through seeing and touching, that he has a passion and a talent for restoring old, wooden, sailing craft.  Where others see “nothing” he sees a “thing of great beauty” awaiting a lover’s touch.

Along the way she learned he could make her laugh with his immense gift for words and for choosing just the right ones to poke fun at a situation, at himself and, sometimes, at her.  It isn't easy to cut hair and laugh at the same time so she learned she would have to step back from her chair until the moment passed and she was composed again.

Recently, she learned how depression could turn him - the liveliest of human beings - into an empty shell.  And, then, she learned how she tenderly she could groom his meekly bowed head and how moved and honoured she would feel being trusted to do so.

Taking everything she has learned from "The Professor" so far into account, she realizes and appreciates that she is receiving from him a well-rounded education – one haircut at a time.