Today is Graduation Day for the Staples High School Class of 2023.
For the 430 students, it’s a day of accomplishment, congratulations and joy.
It can also be bittersweet. Some of the people who helped get them where they are will be missing.
Josh Deitch will celebrate with his father Dave and brother Jonathan. He’ll be thinking of his mother Michele, who died after a long battle with breast cancer in July 2021.
The last couple of weeks have been exciting for Josh. He performed in the Pops Concert as a drummer and violist, and earned both the Coleman Brothers Foundation and Albie Loeffler Scholarships as a soccer player.
His mother could not share in his accolades. But this past weekend — just days before graduation — Josh honored her.
Among his many attributes, he is known at Staples for his hair. The last time he cut it — apart from a little trim here and there — was at least 10 years ago.
Now it’s nearly all gone.
On Sunday Katsu Yokoi — a friend of the family who cuts hair locally and in New York — gave him a once-in-a-decade haircut.
Josh’s amazing locks were not swept up and tossed out. Nor were they saved as a souvenir.
His hair was donated. It will be made into a wig, providing support and confidence to cancer patients who have lost their hair during chemotherapy.
Considering Josh’s hair, I’m betting more than one wig.
Several organizations accept hair donations. Josh provided links:
- Locks of Love
- Hair We Share
- Wigs For Kids
- Children With Hair Loss
- Cancer Care
- American Cancer Society: 800-ACS-2345.
If “06880” readers follow up, perhaps they’ll do so in Michele’s memory.
Happy Graduation, Josh. Good luck at Dickinson College, studying psychology.
All of Westport is proud of you.
Your mom would be too!
Most organizations receive hair that’s dry, clean, cut, and sent in baggies. This is Josh’s contribution.
