Will the Fake Redhead Please Come Forward?

There is just something about the summer months that I absolutely adore; it brings something out in me that is completely carefree. I let go of any form of routine or schedule, I sleep in, stay up too late, and sport my flip-flops with pride. I relax on the mommy routine and welcome the chaos that comes with that.

Two years ago my husband and I went on a cruise with our best friends, Chresten and Bridgette. Bridgette and I have been the best of friends since college, she was in my wedding and I was in hers. I choked back the tears of having to share my best friend as I held her bouquet and looked out into huge sanctuary that held my future husband who would propose six days later. Bridgette has been with me through much heartache, countless joys in life, and many different shades of red hair as she remains the perfect, natural blonde with a few enhancements and highlights along the way. She brings out in me a side of crazy that is uninhibited because she knows me now and she knew me way back then. We laugh our heads off and delight in making our husbands nervous, and that is exactly how we prefer it.

Having a best friend with you is the perfect way to vacation in my opinion. That way, you can shop with someone who doesn’t roll their eyes at every stop and do girly things with while your husband has someone to talk shop with (in our case our boys talk about their latest sermon) as they pal around do manly things. Bridgette and I had always wanted to go parasailing and the boys were not interested at all, crazy huh? We made our plans and headed to find the boat that would be taking us on our little adventure without our husbands. We were the only ones to show up that day so we had the boat to ourselves, it was amazing.

There were two men leading the excursion, both curious about the two petite women. The first question is always, “Are you married?”

I think they said we didn’t look like married women or something strange. I mean really…what do married women look like? We were wearing our wedding rings, we both felt very married after ten years.

“Children?”

Yes.

Thankfully they didn’t make any comments about that one like, yeah, I can see that with those birthing hips and such.

The next question that usually follows is, "What do you do for a living?" Bridgette and I always look at each other before we answer…we are Pastor’s wives, we stay at home, and yes, I’m pretty sure we are allowed to have fun.

After our brief interrogation and get to know you session, we strapped on our harnesses, life jackets, and most importantly, our big, fashionable sunglasses. All you have to say is sandy beaches and my bestie and I instantly relax. We were giddy and ready to do something we had never done before and scratch another thing off of our mental “Bucket List.”

With the wind in our hair and smiles on our faces, we sailed out into the most perfectly blue water ever. It was go time and the man leading the excursion said,

“Will the fake red-head please come forward?”

I laughed my head off, slightly impressed that a man could spot an impostor like me. Not the slightest hint of offended, I made my way to the back of the boat proud to be happiest fake redhead you could ever meet.

My husband says that you shouldn’t mess with perfection, but in the case of my hair color, I couldn’t disagree more…especially since he is a little shade blind. There are certain things we cannot change, but finding my happy shade of red and good friends to enjoy life with is priceless.