Grey hair.
Newly-dyed red hair.
Newly-highlighted brown hair.
Auburn hair. Black hair. All
were a precious pile of support
that fell to the floor Wednesday
of the South Padre Island
Convention Centre’s Exhibit
Hall.
Dixie Rowell, meeting and event
coordinator for the SPI
Convention and Visitors Bureau,
was diagnosed with breast cancer
in May 2005. Just recently, her
chemotherapy treatments resulted
in hair loss.
And, her co-workers and friends
didn’t want her to go through it
alone.
“We told her that if she lost
her hair to chemotherapy that
we’d shave our heads,” said CVB
Services Coordinator Sally
Garza. “She thought we had
forgotten about it, but here we
are. We’re going to keep shaving
it until her hair comes back.”
Rowell said it could be up to
nine months before her hair
grows back.
“We figured it would be that
long,” Garza replied.
Eight CVB employees and friends
lined up Wednesday as CVB Deputy
Director Connie Ledbetter shaved
them one by one. She then took a
turn at the receiving end.
Laughter and tears filled the
exhibit hall as the newly
bald-headed supporters inspected
each other’s heads for childhood
scars and bumps. Each of them
gave Rowell a hug expressing
their encouragement.
This isn’t the first show of
support Rowell received. Walk
for Women, a local organization
dedicated to helping local
residents who have breast
cancer, gave her a $3,000 check
just before Christmas.
“Their donation eased our
worries,” Rowell said. “It was a
huge Christmas present. We
worried about deductibles,
insurance and premiums. Walk for
Women helped us a great deal.”
The organization had also
previously paid for gasoline to
ease the expense of going to the
treatments.
“It’s a very good feeling that
there’s an organization that
cares that much about women,”
Rowell said.
Rowell also thanks her husband
SPI Fire Chief and Assistant
City Manager Clifford Rowell and
her son Allen for their love and
support.
But the actions of her
bald-headed, bandana-wearing
friends really touched her.
“You guys are crazy,” she told
them as they lined up for a
group photo.
They all hugged her.
“Anytime,” seemed the common
response.