Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Hare Raising Event

thumbnailNot long after Randy and I started dating he asked me to go with him to get a haircut.  We were in the "new stage" of romance so he could have asked me to do just about anything and I would have followed.  I didn't think or even know that he was actually taking me to me his barber and get her approval.

The only person that has ever cut Randy's hair (besides when he lived in another town) is a lady named Evelyn Labus.  She started cutting Randy's hair when he was 2 years old and she is like a second Mother to Randy.  Evelyn and I immediately hit it off and I would almost always go with Randy to get his hair cut because I loved to visit with Evelyn.  She has wonderful memories of cutting Randy and his brother Kevin's hair when they were just babies.  She still cuts Kevin's hair and seems to light up when you mention his name.

Evelyn is what you would call Salt of the Earth.  She is 80 years old but acts like she's 30 and looks nowhere near her age.  She went to barber school at a time when women weren't barbers.  She told me that it was hard but she made it....all while taking her youngest 2 year old daughter to school with her.  Evelyn had to work since her marriage failed and she had seven children to raise.  She lived in Panhandle (a small community on the outskirts of Amarillo) and would drive to Amarillo everyday to work but would always make time to see her children in their extra curricular activities.  She reminds me of my parents...for a long time she lived off the land and worked hard to survive.  She would raise a large garden, work in the fields, and did whatever it took to provide for her family.  She is strong in her religion and convictions.  Whatever you do don't talk about liberal politics while getting your hair cut or it might turn out shorter than you would like!

She is semi-retired but has enough business to keep her as busy as she wants to be.  Her 7 children have all turned out to be wonderful & productive people in our society.  She has around 15 grandchildren and several great grandchildren that she enjoys keeping up with.  She is an inspiration.  I know that Randy loves to go and see her...it's like he is 5 years old again and nothing has changed.

In 2007 when Randy and I asked Evelyn if she accepts new clients she quickly responded NO!  Then Randy asked her as a special favor to accept just one more new client ...and she agreed and then cried when we told her we were having a baby boy.  Just that week she had set her children's barber seat out to give away since she no longer cuts little boys hair...she dusted it off and showed us & saved it for John.  John loves to have Evelyn cut his hair - he has never cried and always sets tall for her.  When he goes into her shop he knows where she keeps her John seat and gets it out for her.

Last month as I was watching her trim John's hair I got to thinking that John was the 4th generation of the Hare family to get his hair cut by Evelyn.  That's amazing!  I called the newspaper and they loved the story idea.  It was in today's paper...if you would like to read about it click here.

IMG_0139 Evelyn meeting John for the first timeJohn's 1st Haircut 02 John's first hair cutJohn's 1st Haircut 27John's 1st Haircut 37716478069716478166

2 comments:

Linda said...

Love, love, love it. What great memories that John and the rest of the Hare's will always have. Glad you thought of the newspaper idea.

Mookie 59 said...

Snip! Snip! Hooray!!! For Evelyn and her loving kindness after all these years....Clip! Clip! Hooray!!!Long may she clip and snip!! We boys-Randy,John, and I,Kevin are most lucky to have been trimmed by the ever ageless barber maestro Evelyn Labus!!!!Clip!Snip!Clip!Snip!HOORAY!!!