As far back as I can remember, a lot of my memories come from the beauty shop, akaTurning Heads, my mom’s hair salon. Growing up, Mom and Dad just had to make things work as far as work schedules went. Dad had to go to work at night, so I had to go to work with mom so I wouldn’t wake Dad while he slept. I spent a LOT of time at the beauty shop. And when I say beauty shop, I mean picture the Steel Magnolias beauty shop. The shop always consisted of Friday blowouts, women over 50 with big hair, roller sets, red lipsticks, gossip and all the Aquanet (or Kenra 25) you could spray. Thank goodness mom didn’t allow smoking in her shop because if she did we would’ve blown up like an atomic bomb. 

I probably started staying at the beauty shop consistently when I started kindergarten. Mom would come pick me up at the end of the school day, run me through McDonalds for a Happy Meal, and straight back to the shop we went. Mom’s rented and owned many shops over her Cosmetology career– she’s been on the town square, across from Reed’s builder supply, and finally got her own shop which she built at home. I remember being on the square when I was little. It was in the 90s. That’s when tanning beds were a big thing and people would put Hugh Hefner bunny stickers on their hips to get that little tan line bunny. Mom had so many girls working for her it felt like it was always a party. Mom was still young, so people were always in and out of the shop. I remember ladies would come in and pick me up and give me kisses. Some of them would be a little too wet for my liking, and some sure could have used a breath mint or two. Or five. But it was always an adventure. Supposedly I would give neck or feet rubs (ewww…) while they would wait for their appointment. If you know me now, I’m nice but there’s no feet or neck rubs in anyone’s future. It definitely did not become a career path for me.

I do remember customers bringing their kids and walking me to McDonalds and buying treats, walking around the square to the old Woodbury Drug Center where we would get a fountain drink and candy. I also remember all the proms I had to endure being launched on the square like some kind of tailgating pre-party photo shoot. I think every girl that went to prom got ready at Turning Heads salon beforehand. Prom dresses, make up, high heels, and bobby pins were all over that shop. It was loud, crazy, and frantic, but everyone always turned out perfectly. It’s crazy now that those dresses from the late 90s and early 2000s when mom was on the square are coming back in style. So are those pinstripe tuxedos. But one thing has never changed- the shop has always been part of that teenage rite of passage and a place where magic happened.

The year Mom moved in front of Reed’s builder supply, it was a little more quiet and she didn’t have as many people working for her. I still would get those wet kisses, and supposedly still gave those neck and foot massages, but I was older and it had to be for something worth it in exchange because I was NOT fond of it. I remember at that building there was a small little room in the back, which fit a desk and a little TV with a VCR. I got old enough that I would hide in the back, far away from wet kisses and massages, to watch VCR tapes that included Rugrats in Paris, Air Bud, and I think Titanic. I’m pretty sure I snuck that one in there just because it showed boobies. The shop location was different, but the routine was the same. Mom still picked me up from school, got me something to eat, and then I had to go sit in the shop. This lasted for years. That is where my personality of talking till I won’t shut up and wanting to know everything about everyone comes from. Telling people I have actually lived the real Steel Magnolias is not a lie. I kinda loved it. 

Over the years, I met really nice people and some not so nice. But the salon is definitely where my personality grew. It’s where I learned to respect my elders from Mr.Wade who was a Barber in mom’s shop. He was an elderly man who was the nicest person you could have met. I could remember him alway being frail. I don’t know why, but he always had a bottle of molasses and a spit cup at his station. He didn’t say much to me, but when he did I knew I should always say “yes sir” to him. He was always easy to talk to. He always had a Mr. Rogers vibe to him. Like I said, I didn’t talk much to him. It was usually to get a sucker or some candy from his stash he had, but when we would have conversations it was always a good time. It was mostly about some goats he had. I remember mom used to take me to go see his goats from time to time. Funny little creatures. 

As time went on and I got bigger, I started playing sports and had to stay after school for practice or started to go home with friends. By this time Mom had built her shop at the house and had only one other person working with her. I sometimes still would make my way out to the shop and see some of the customers that I grew up around that I hadn’t seen in awhile or if it was a family member, but I mostly stayed in the house. Years passed and high school came, homecomings, proms, Good Ole Days celebrations, weddings, births, tragedies, breakups, engagements, and lots of hair came through, and I got to experience it all. 

Flash forward to ten years later I get to experience Beauty Shop days again. Me and mom have laughed because we thought my beauty shop days of sitting through gossip, roller sets, perms, layers and layers of foils and kids’ haircuts were over– but nope they are not over at all. When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I was able to stay at home and enjoy the nice ambience of my own home. The smell of a candle, the enjoyment of a record playing in the background while I rest on the couch during the three days of chemo treatment. Well, as the cancer got worse and brain tumors developed, seizures, surgeries, and radiation came. The doctors really didn’t recommend me staying by myself for a full day, so what did that mean? When mom goes to work, Taylor goes with her (most of the time). SO, I get to live the real life Steel Magnolias again. Some of it has changed but it’s just more modern. I don’t have to give feet or shoulder rubs anymore because that would be a straight up NO. But I do get a lot of kisses. Most of them are not wet but I have gotten a couple that have been a little moist. I think it’s lip gloss though. 

The Beauty Shop really hasn’t changed that much. Fridays are not reserved for roller sets and washouts anymore, perms are really not a thing. Just a few get them and when they do happen, the chemicals work better opening up my sinuses then Flonase ever has. Foils and color and today’s roller sets and washouts. It’s mostly the same, just with different tools. The gossip hasn’t stopped at all, but I don’t know if you would call it gossip or therapy. I think every hairdresser, nail people, barber etc. should have a degree in psychology because they have to talk more people off the ledge than psychologists do. Some of the stuff you hear in the beauty shop I can’t repeat because I’m afraid God would strike me down right there if I would repeat it. Being back out at the shop, well, nothing’s really changed except Pinterest replaced the hair magazines and hair styles are more modern, There are way more colors than red, blonde, and brown. Gossip has gotten more juicy, which I like, and kisses on your cheek are still the same as they were 15 years ago. 

Sitting out there makes the memories come flooding back. All the people that I have met in my life through one place. All the memories that I’ve made, the laughs that I’ve shared with friends, family, and complete strangers have had such an impact on my life. All the life lessons I’ve learned. It’s really made me who I am and given me a large part of my personality. I think being around such outgoing people made me not afraid to talk to people, no matter who they are. And Mom is the center of it all. She is really the Steel Magnolia of the whole thing. She knows everyone and their cousins, which customers she has to be more serious with or customers she can be funny and crack jokes with, and always has a good word of advice wrapped up in a country saying, just like Truvy Jones in the movie. Sometimes she’s a little like Drum and you never really know if she’s crazy or not, and sometimes you’ll even see a little bit of Ouiser Boudreaux really come out– she’ll say exactly what she’s thinking but she’s funny. And she has a heart of gold. But mostly, if you ever get to visit the shop, you’ll also see she’s a lot like M’Lynn. A worrier who loves big and wants to keep those she loves protected.

Because she’s all these wrapped up in one, I’ve had the chance to learn how to navigate people, listen like a therapist, and escape the room when I need to. I may or may not have become my own version of Ouiser Boudreaux over the past several years, but she is also my version of a best friend Clariee who loves and puts up with me anyway. She’s given me the best classroom to learn about life in- the beauty shop.