Can I touch your hair?

So as I've mentioned before, Thursday nights are Movie night with the family.  Thursday nights of late have also involved a neighbor who comes over to hang out with Val and I.  My brother can only take so much estrogen all at once, so he retreats to his office.  Anyway C---- is amazing, outgoing, exceptionally bright and mature for her age.  She's thirteen going on forty and in many ways reminds me of me when I was that age.

Usually I'm just really relaxed and laid back on Thursday nights.  My hair is so often in a ponytail that C---- remarked a couple of weeks ago that she'd never seen me with my hair down.  Tonight I was running late and drove up to the house with my hair up in a towel.  My poor namesake doesn't deal well with hats on people, so I Walked with my hair up in a purple "Turbie twist" towel, and I didn't get the warm welcome from him I usually do.  Normally, I walk in, and he lights up with a big smile and starts laughing, clapping and doing a little dance.  It's such a shame he doesn't like me...  Anyway, Thursday, with my hair up, he took one look at me and started crying.  Mind you two hours earlier we were on the boat playing.  Realizing the problem, I took my hair down, it was mostly dry anyway, fluffed and flipped it back into place.  I didn't really think much about it from there.  Sam was suddenly happy to see me and showed it too.  C---- on the other hand just looked at me wide eyed and said:

"Oh my God, your hair is so shiny and, well amazing!  I wish I could just flip and fluff like that!  It looks so soft, can I touch it?"

I was a little surprised and said sure, if you want to.  She then came over and proceeded to pet my hair.  I mean seriously just petting it, running her fingers through it having a good time...  I'm kinda used to it by now, I run into hair envy surprisingly often.  Just not often is the whole petting it part.  She was just awed by it, because it's "amazingly soft" as well as good looking, and it's nice and long.  The kind of hair my younger sister always dreamed of having.

When I was a kid, my younger sister said my hair was wasted on me, because it was perfect girl hair and I'd never grow it long enough to do it justice.  Her hair was coarse, too thick (according to her) and too curly.  She wanted long wavy hair that was soft, fine, and shiny.  I honestly wish she'd lived long enough, and been healthy enough to really meet her sister.

Needless to say, we had this whole conversation about haircare, styling products (or the lack thereof) and how to get your hair soft.  From there we went into shaving legs, and other such topics.  C----'s Mom died a whole bunch of years back, so she doesn't have any real female role models in her life.  Val and I got elected it would seem.  It's kinda cool being a big sister of sorts, though technically I'm more than old enough be her Mom.