I was camping one day in 1991 when a friend asked, “Why do you shave the back of your head and around your ears?”

I had no idea what my friend was talking about. So I found a mirror, looked closely at my head of long, thick hair, and was shocked to discover that large bald spots were developing on the sides and in the back of my head.

Confused and afraid, I consulted a doctor who told me that I was experiencing patchy hair loss (alopecia areata) due to stress.

At that time, my three-year marriage was falling apart and our home was in foreclosure.

Therefore, the doctor’s diagnosis at least gave me hope that my hair would grow back once my life was no longer stressful.

However, my hair continued falling out regardless of what I did to reduce the amount of stress in my life.

More and more clumps appeared in my brush with every stroke, and I didn’t even feel a pull; my hair simply separated and fell from my head.

My hair loss ordeal took its greatest emotional toll when I began to believe that my husband at the time, a bodybuilder, would never again find me attractive.

Indeed, the last thing I felt was sexy. I couldn’t believe at all that he could love me, or that I’d ever find someone else to love me, for what I had become.

Some time after the divorce, I not only accepted the fact that I would probably spend the rest of my life with alopecia, but also that I would probably spend it alone.

I was so convinced of this that it took me nearly two decades of soul-searching and deconstructing society’s standards of beauty for me to reach the conclusion that I am bald and beautiful as well as attractive to men worth my time.

I came to this realization about three years ago and started dating again. Today, I’m engaged to richard jones (rj), who also helped me launch Alopecia World.

At age 43, I am genuinely happy being hairless. I’m also told that I’m an inspiration to female hair loss sufferers around the world, especially due to the popularity of Alopecia World.

I didn’t date for 13 years, but never would I recommend that other women do the same.

Rather, I encourage them to love themselves unconditionally and question “the beauty myth” unrelentingly in order to liberate themselves to truly love and be loved.