Hi Everyone,
Tonight we’d like to share words from one of Corey’s old friends; Courtney (aka Chicken …don’t ask about the nickname). The girls were very close friends from cheerleading. Courtney is a junior in college. She submitted a story to her college newspaper and it was chosen for the Front Page of the November edition.
Thank you Chicken for this lovely tribute inspired by Corey;
No Shave November
Walking into the gym in the middle of November, I scan the room to see my teammate’s faces clean shaven. This was a surprise for me to see that most students in college didn’t participate in this tradition. No Shave November is a month of no shaving in which, mostly guys decide to let their facial hair grow. Little did my friends know my secret, until my teammate shouted loudly “EW, YOUR LEGS ARE GROSS! WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU SHAVED!?”. Yes indeed, I myself decided to participate in the month of No Shave November. I know what you are probably thinking, girls participating in No Shave November is not the prettiest sight, but in my defense it was for a pretty good reason.
Many people carry this tradition throughout the years mostly pertaining to the humor, but what is this month really about? One popular motive is to raise awareness for those who suffer the deadly disease we all hate and fear, cancer. The idea of the cause is to embrace our hair. As many may know, cancer results in hair loss after chemotherapy and/or surgery. So instead of getting rid of it, keep it! Also, many people decide to donate money to charities that support this specific cause. The money that you may have used to buy shaving cream and razors could easily be used to help raise money for these charities. Growing out your hair reminds society of the suffering people have to go through every single day with living with this illness.
I was introduced to the idea around age fourteen, when I was committed to a competition cheerleading team with girls who were close in age to me located in the Kennett square. My great friend Corey Beattie proposed that as a team, we should participate in this event before every major competition season starts. I thought to myself, “I’m pretty sure only guys do this”. We thought she was just kidding, so we all just laughed and didn’t think anything of it. With her being the energetic unpredictable girl we knew and loved, she arrived at practice the following week with a huge grin on her face. We had no idea why she had this stubborn look, until shortly after rolling up her pant leg for all of us to see.
There appeared Corey’s legs coated with thick black hair resulting in just a week of no shaving. Was she crazy? Maybe, but surprisingly, it was pretty impressive to the team that she wasn’t kidding after all. This idea may have been a little out there, but with our team being so close and full of humor, we all immediately joined in. When the month was coming to an end after shaving our skin stood baby smooth for our first competition! What better way to go into the beginning of the season confidently and feeling fabulous.
Three years ago, will be the day that I will never forget. Our lives were shaken up resulting in an incident that Corey was in. Unfortunately she was the passenger in a serious car accident that should have taken her life several times. She was hit on her side by a truck at a dangerous intersection hard to see around. Corey suffered with many injuries throughout the body, but the far worst one was her traumatic brain injury. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that this happened to a close friend of mine. It made me realize how your life can change in a matter of seconds and that scared me a lot. It was heartbreaking to a lot of close friends and family to know that she may not be the same girl every again that we knew and loved.
Although she was about to walk down a long road of recovery, I knew that everyone would be behind her every step of the way. And we were/ still are. Her mother asked all of us girls on the team to participate in a fundraiser for Corey, to carry on the tradition she proposed, No Shave November. Of course none of us hesitated to join in on this affair; we knew she wouldn’t want it any other way. There were lots of t-shirts created for the fundraiser, and delicious food sold to us that you couldn’t resist getting.
After a long month of not shaving our legs, we met at our old practice gym with shaving cream and razors where the fundraiser was held. Looking around and seeing my fellow teammates shaving their legs in the middle of the gym, was a little weird, but also hilarious. There was a lot of giggling and memories shared throughout the afternoon, not a frown was to be seen. The fundraiser was a successful one, in which they decided to have other fundraisers along with this one to help Corey pay her ridiculously high hospital bills.
As funny, weird, and gross No shave November sounds to participate in it is a great fundraiser all around. I am proud to say that I am till this day a participant in no shave November. Giving up a month of shaving my legs always reminded me of memories throughout the years of our friendship. With November creeping around the corner, I encourage you to join in with us on this ridiculous month, not only to laugh at the results but to maybe help someone in need.