"The Original Dominican Ginger."

When my mother gave birth to me she didnt expect the baby that the nurse handed to her. My flaming red curls put everyone in shock for a second. Although we have a great deal of European heritage in my family we have no known family member with red hair. My mother has brown hair hair that was blonde in her childhood years and my father has plain mousy brown curly hair. Red hair is very unexpected especially for a Dominican kid. This definetly topped my aunts bluish-green eyes and blonde hair.

As a child i remember being called carrot head by the kids in school. I never thought about it much yeah I was a carrot head that was the only me I had ever known. When I would go out with my mother I remember people constantly stopping and asking questions like; "Is that her natural hair color." "Is she really your daughter?" or say things like "Wow thats really amazing your daughters hair is so beautiful." By the time I reached middle school I had the nickname of "Little Annie." My hair curly and red just like hers.

When I got to middle school and reached my pre-teen years my hair dyeing bonanza had started. My little Annie days were gone for a while. I experimented with almost every hair color possible. From highlights, fire engine red, sandy blonde, black, dark brown, and even hot pink streaks. I was like a chameleon changing who I was on a month to month basis. In high school my classmates waited attentively to see what my new hair color would be. When people asked ; "So what is your natural hair color?" Brown was my response. So many years living inside a hair dye box,  had caused me to lose touch with my true red headed self.

One day looking through a family album I saw a picture of myself as a child. Atop my head flaming red curls. I came to a realization that caused me to change my life and perception of myself. Red is my hair color and I chose to embrace since then. I have spent my college years going natural and that means going back to red. Not the red that is in the contents of a hair dye box.

Now that Im older my hair is no longer the bright carrot color it used to be when I was a child. It has now darkened to a shade of aubrun. In bad light it looks light brown but under the perfect light my hair shines in all its red and natural glory. And when people ask what my natural hair color is I proudly say red.