I haven't had a perm since January, and recently cut the remaining perm off my hair due to a perm/color fiasco that took my hair out in patches. When I saw it for the first time in its all-natural state I was mortified. I looked like Celie from The Color Purple. It was nappy and I looked like a different person. But it made me think. Do I have a problem with being natural, getting back to my roots? Am I a sellout for preferring straight hair? Don't get me wrong, natural hair looks wonderful on some other people, but I hated it on me. Perhaps I just didn't know what to do with it, but I felt so insecure. I had it blow-dried, and felt like a million dollars again after it was straight. I got braids the next day and will continue to do so to ease the transition while my natural hair continues to grow-out; but my goal is to rock it naturally in about a month. Do you think I'm going to make it?

Thanks!
Newly Natural Nadine Orlando, FL

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Dear Wifey... A Message From the Other Woman

Here I sit, thinking about IT. My memory has managed to preserve every instance of us, of our bodies clinging together. I can still taste his tongue, his well chiseled chest, and sweat. That’s my man, but he’s her husband. DAMM. Did I just say that? Sounds different when I use my outside voice. And now comes the guilt, shame and conviction. He walked right out of my bed and into her heart. And worse, she doesn’t even know it. I think she likes me, although I think her womanly intuition tells her there’s something not quite right about me. Not right about me? Who the hell AM I these days?

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