LEONARD GRAY

Here’s my beard, in all its shaginess A beard is a curious thing for men. It goes in and out of fashion, up and down in popularity. It’s either a convenience or a problem. Women seem strong-minded about them, one way or the other. Look at my photo at the top of this column. Up until a few years ago, I wore a full beard and one day considered taking it all off. I got this far, with my wife watching, and she yelled, “That’s it! Stop!” And that’s how I have worn my beard ever since. I have a “baby face.” This can be a curse or a blessing. When I was in my late teen-age years, I wanted desperately to look older. I knew growing a beard at that point was impossible. One, I was living at home and growing a beard then was not going to be tolerated. Two, I simply didn’t have the hair to grow a beard. Finally, I decided to grow a moustache and wore that through the remainder of my college years. That’s how my wife met me. Thereafter, she never saw me clean-shaven for more than 20 years. Soon after we met, she encouraged me to grow a full beard, to look more mature. I’m five years older and she liked my more mature look. She will readily admit she doesn’t really know why she likes facial hair. No one in her family and no former boyfriend had facial hair. She likes mine, though. A couple of years ago, I did something utterly daring and shaved everything off. She hated it. The first words out of her mouth, upon seeing my bare face for the first time ever, after 20 years of marriage, was: “You have no lips!” Therefore, the beard returned. Not the full beard, but the above-shown face fuzz known as a “Van Dyke.” The other matter is the color. I’m 47 years of age, as of this writing. That means I have a fair amount of gray hair, both on my scalp and on my face. I decided not to go gently into that gray-headed league. I quickly found a little men’s hair color product which colors both in about 10 minutes. I also decided to leave that little white streak under my (apparently non-existant) lips. To be honest, I think it looks kind of hip. One day, I may either color it in completely or give up and let it go the other way. Or I could just go bare-faced again and put up with the no-lips remarks. In the early years of this nation, beards were not in fashion, and some men were actually imprisoned for wearing a beard. It took Abraham Lincoln to set us bearded folk free. Historically, also, beards are fashionable during times of war. Considering the state of the world nowadays, I think I’ll keep the beard. Besides, as my wife also says, it tickles her neck. That’s reason enough for me. LEONARD GRAY is assistant managing editor of L’Observateur.