I watched and studied the fragile little 3-year- old girl.

Her head wrapped in gauze and the most precious little face peering over the shoulder of the nurse that carried her. Looking at what is now her world from the hallway of Hennepin County Medical Center. She stares at all the strange faces sitting in the waiting room. She spotted my two young boys, our eyes connected; I smiled, winked and gave her a little wave.

She gave me a little smile. You could tell that to smile even hurt. I watched until she was out of sight.

I looked at my own two children. Many questions came to mind. You know the ones, we all have asked them. What happened? How long has she been here? Where are her parents?

My family had been frequent visitors at the hospital. My father-in-law was a patient in the intensive care unit for a year before we had to make life-changing decisions. During that very long year we met many people from all over. The intensive-care-unit waiting room is a very sad place to be sitting. We shared tears with perfect strangers as they went through their worst fears and nightmares and shared joy with those who received good news.

I remember faces, although, time has blurred their clarity. All but one, the little 3-year-old with her head wrapped in gauze. We learned about her unfortunate accident. Her mother was cooking supper; she had put french fries in the Fry Daddy. While they were cooking her mother went to another task. The little girl wanted to see and pulled the Fry Daddy cord.

I had this sickening feeling. When we first saw her she had already undergone a few skin grafts. The burns were to the top of her head. Her face and the rest of her body managed to stay clear of the burning oil. We learned that she had been there for three months and had many skin grafts yet to be completed. My thoughts as a stylist immediately turned to the fact she will never be able to grow hair on her head.

I thought how selfish and ashamed I am to think what an ugly mood I can get into when I am having just a bad hair day.

As the months passed we would catch glimpses of her and her nurses. On good days she would walk the hallways hand-in-hand with her nurse. On bad the days, the nurse would sit or lay her in a red Radio Flyer Wagon.

I never saw her without her close friends, Elmo or Cookie Monster held close to her heart. The vision of that little 3-year-old girl stays fresh in my mind. She should be 13 these days; the sensitive, vulnerable and impressionable years are in front of her now.

People ask me all the time why I am so passionate about the Locks of Love. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I wish I could hand them a picture of the little girl with gauze wrapped around her head laying in the red wagon.

I believe Frederick Buchner said it best: “The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt.” I believe things don’t happen by chance, but God places us where we need to be at the right time and place. My passion comes from that little girl. I am the owner of Classic Reflections Salon & Spa and I proudly say we are an Official Locks of Love Salon.

I want to thank our community in helping Classic Reflections Salon & Spa in our fourth annual Inch-a-Thon in April. I proudly announce that this year we broke our record and cut 24 heads of hair that measured 267.5 inches, and raised $190 in tax deductible financial donations. The longest donation came from Tony Boerner of Albert Lea. He cut 21 inches of hair. The youngest donor was Satera Hernandez at 4 1/2 years old of Albert Lea.

People traveled from all destinations to donate — Rochester, Janesville, Austin, Alden, Blooming Prairie, Glenville, Ellendale and Northwood, Lake Mills and Leland, Iowa.

To donate hair you must cut a minimum of 10 inches of hair from tip to tip. The Locks of Love organization turns this hair into hair prosthesis for children 18 and younger who suffer from medical hair loss and who are financially challenged.

It takes six to 10 ponytails to create one hairpiece. The retail price of one of these hairpieces start at $3,500. Each piece is custom-fitted to the child. The hairpiece is vacuumed sealed, like a suction cup, and no glue is needed. Only the child may remove it.

They can swim, bike, shower and run. They can be a kid again!

I encourage everyone to learn more about Locks of Love. For more information, log onto www.locksoflove.org.

The children who receive these hairpieces have lost more than their hair; they suffer from a loss of self. I would love to think that little 3-year-old girl is wearing a Locks of Love hairpiece today, and I hope it could help restore some normalcy to her everyday life that I know

I take for granted. Never a word spoken between us, but the little girl many years ago touched my heart and changed my life.