Martino Cartier

Today I saw a guy about a wig. Martino Cartier in Sewell NJ. He is the founder of the organization I mentioned before, but I will mention again, www.friendsarebyyourside.com. A free human hair wig service for woman with breast cancer, with participating salons all over the US.

So Paulette and I leave her house around 8AM for a 2 hour (well, 2 hours from my house) drive to his salon in NJ. My appt. was for 11:30. We were a bit early, to say the least. But we had to take Rt. 76 and 676 thru Phila and early is better than late, right? After a bit a traffic we arrive in Sewell around 10, so we now have an hour and a half to kill. Which we did at Starbucks. And Target. Where I bought a hat. A hat. A hat. I bought a hat to cover up my bald head. My bald head. By July, I will have a bald head. This just can’t be real.

We arrive at Martino’s salon a few minutes past 11 and he comes right out to join us. As expected my throat immediately closed up and Paulette had to do the talking at first. She gently lifts up a handful of my hair and says “See these beautiful curls? We need to replace them. Temporarily.” Could I love this woman anymore than I already do?

Martino asked how I heard of him and his organization so I told him what you all already know. That Romina sent me the link and when I called the salon closest to my home the person on the other end had no idea what I was talking about and the owner and manager were not there,  so I had decided to go directly to the source, him. He was livid! Not at me, of course, but at this local salon. And the next thing I know I am in his office, on his website, showing him which salon it was. AND HE CALLED THEM RIGHT THEN AND THERE AND GAVE THE OWNER HELL!! He was downright pissed off. Told her that I was standing there, right there, that I had driven 2 hours to see him when I could have driven 20 minutes to see her. She  told him they have only had one call in the past year for this service and that she didn’t have enough staff or space to really do this. Oh my gosh was Martino livid. He really was. He said some more to her and then hung up on her. Hung up. On her. It was a priceless moment. He then mumbled something about “atheists” and sent his webmaster an email to have them removed from the website, which it was immediately.

And we got on with my consultation. And by now, I have my voice back. Who wouldn’t after that? I know this foundation is Martino’s baby and all, but he was also sticking up for me. And if someone can get that mad, on my behalf, well….that someone very quickly becomes dear to me. We discussed my current hair and he told me it would be hard to get such a curly wig to match what I naturally have. That most curly hair wigs are made of African American hair. I told him how Michelle wants me to look the same and he pauses and says “well, perhaps we might be able to perm the hair”, and the voice in the back of my head is saying “good, that will make Michelle happy” but the voice coming out of my mouth says “no, that’s ok. I could use a bit of a change.” So my wig will closely match the color of my natural hair (or, the color of Nice-n-Easy medium golden brown anyway) but will be wavy as opposed to curly. I have a picture of it, sort of it anyway. Mine will be lighter, and I will have him cut it a bit shorter. But, as far as wigs go, it’s beautiful.

And so is Martino. Inside and out.

When I am ready I go back and he will shave my head. He told me to bring Michelle so that she can use the colored hair sprays on my current hair to her hearts content. That she could then help shave my head. That they would pretty her up too. Blow out her hair. Make her feel special. It will help a horrible moment become bearable. Light. Happy. Freeing. I’m bringing wine too.

Going to see a guy about a wig because you have breast cancer is not an easy thing to do. No doubt about it. But taking Paulette with me and meeting Martino made the experience enjoyable. Yep, you read that correctly, enjoyable. I had high expectations of Martino and his salon and I was not disappointed. It was worth the drive. The traffic. And the fact that I forgotten to take the EZ Pass out of Alan’s car.

Martino is another person who has come into my life during this horrible period that I wish could have come into my life a different way.