Helping with a Haircut

Hello! My name is Erin. I’m 9 years old, and I’m from Canada.

Did you know that there are islands around Canada? It’s true. I live on an island called Prince Edward Island. It’s off of Canada’s eastern coast.

Prince Edward Island is famous because an author named Lucy Maud Montgomery lived here. She wrote lots of books about fictional children on the island. Her most popular book is Anne of Green Gables. Here I am with my sister, Allison, at the Green Gables historic farmhouse. We walked along some of the same trails that Lucy wrote about in her books.

Besides living on the same island as Lucy Maud Montgomery, I have something else in common with her: I like to write too! Some of the stories I have written are “The Scavenger Hunt” and “Adventures in Ice-Cream Land.” I also like playing soccer and taking care of my grandmother’s ponies.

One thing that happens in Anne of Green Gables is that the main character has to cut off her hair after trying to dye it. I recently cut my hair short too, but for a different reason. My mom and I read in the newspaper that you can donate hair for wigs for people who are sick or don’t have hair. A couple of women in our branch had cancer and lost their hair, and I have an uncle and a cousin with a medical condition that makes their hair fall out. Thinking of them made me want to help. So I grew my hair out for more than a year and cut off nine inches to donate. Now some of my friends are donating their hair too!

Photographs by Marissa Widdison and courtesy of Erin’s family.

To meet more friends from Canada, turn to page 24!