Joe's story brought tears to our eyes

Dear Editor:

A heart-warming story from a little girl who will never know just how many lives she has touched just giving her hair to Locks of Love.

It has never been cut in the length and took over an hour to dry with a hair dryer set on high. Putting this in the paper was hard to keep a secret from Maggie, her mother, DeAnna Fulton, and my mother, Nellie Henson, for a week until it came out in the paper. I wanted to tell someone, but I wanted it to be a big surprise for Maggie. She never expected it or wanted the attention, but I thought it was something special.

I think Joe Hughes did a great job with this story. Mom and I both cried in Wal-mart parking lot when we read it as soon as the paper came out on Monday and everyone I have showed it to has cried also.

It has been a job to manage her hair at this length, but this was her decision and her commitment to help the little children she will never know, but in her heart she knows the feeling of giving love to someone she will never meet. This, I believe is God's Love, and a way of teaching children of any age to love and be kind to others. Many of us should take lessons from this story and the world would be a better place.

Giving love unconditionally with looking for not one thing in return, but with a heart filled with love.

Thank You again Joe, you really made this story special. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping us share this heartwarming story. Oh yes, by the way, she is growing it again for who knows how many more years for Locks of Love. Thank you so much, Debora H. Bailey Gaffney, S.C.