First of all, I love gray hair.

When I was in elementary school there was a beautiful woman who was the after-school care director. Her hair was long and raven with the exception of a thick silver streak that went from her crown to the tip of her tresses.

I remember asking her when did she earn the silver stripe? She said she was sixteen. That blew my mind. Especially when you are in elementary school. Sixteen is the age we aspire to be.

You are finally able to drive, you get to have an epic birthday party (I am of the reality show era of MTV, don’t judge me), and you get to start dating (not in real life, only on TV and in movies).

You never consider that at sixteen you will start finding white hair… unless you’re an X-men.

Imagine experiencing your first kiss only to put the love of your life into the ICU because, surprise, you’re a mutant, only to run away and be kidnapped with a plan to be sacrificed to save all of mutant kind. The drama of it all!

I would be upset… that is unless it ends with a streak of white hair and my crush wakes up with mutant powers, too. Sorry, Bobby.

This was another epic example of the white hair being a sign of something powerful. Which brings me to my final pre-silver hair memory.

When I worked at a credit union there use to be this man who would come into the branch. He had deep dark skin like my husband and dressed in a suit. He had a fade and a full beard and mustache… ALL WHITE.

I am smiling right now as I think about it. It was beautiful.

The contrast of his skin and hair brings a smile to my lips. My husband has grays throughout his beard, and it makes me excited to know how beautiful it will look when it all turns against his complexions.

I know there are women, and men, out there who struggle to love this aging and beautiful sign of wisdom and time, but I don’t see it the way they do.

I see it as a youthful surprise on someone’s 16th birthday, a sign of being so powerful that could be used for the greater good (or evil), I see it as beautiful and attractive. All these things excite me.

This string of silver excites me.

I have earned this. And before I earned it, I had three wigs dedicated to my love of white, silver, and gray hair.

So, to answer the question, “How did I feel about it?”

Excited, powerful, and beautiful.