Day 26

Name: P.J.

Profession: Hairdresser, Fantastic Sam’s

Location: Her home in Avondale, Arizona

Question: What brought you there?

Answer: My family

Though she didn’t give me permission to use her full name, P.J. did have something to say about the importance of family. From the first question I asked her to the last, the answers all rang with a harmonious “I live for my kids.”

Now a mother of a 14- and 16-year-old, P.J. has spent the last decade and a half providing for her children. When her hours as a hairdresser didn’t match the kids’ schedules, she tested to become a teacher’s aide. When her boys needed space, she went back into hairdressing. Now, she refuses to move back to Ohio, the place she grew up and owner her own hair salon, mostly because “the oldest would hate it.”

“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do when you have kids,” she said. “I’d do anything for my kids. That’s, you know, that’s my life.”

Now it seems the family is faced with a difficult decision: Though there have been discussions with her junior about college, he’s also contemplating the service.

“I don’t want him the Marines,” she said. She did not comment about her boy’s own preferences, but she did make it clear that this was a crucial time for everyone.

But what does she do for herself? P.J. claims that “hair’s my thing.” She said she loves cutting, but hopes to someday retire and “get a Winnebago and ride the country with my husband. I know, that sounds dorky, but that’s what I want to do.”

It should come as no surprise that a perfect night at home, she said, is one with her family.

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