Thomas, who is now a first-grader at Linden Elementary in Hamilton, said he doesn’t remember what sparked his decision either.
“I have three other boys and I just like to shave their heads and be done with it,” Christine Rindler said. But impressed by Thomas’ insistence to donate, she let him grow out his hair.
So three years later, a week after his seventh birthday, the entire Rindler family and a contingent of friends went to Master’s Touch Salon in Liberty Twp. to witness Thomas’ 13 inches of hair be shorn and donated to Locks of Love, an organization that provides hairpieces to children undergoing medical treatments that have left them bald.
According to stylist Andrea Walker, Master’s Touch operates two programs under the banner Master’s Touch Missions.
Stylists go to such places as Haven House and One Way Farm to cut hair for the children there, and they will give a free haircut to anyone who donates the clippings — which must be at least 10 inches long — to Locks of Love.
“In the past three years, he has dealt with many people — children, adults and even complete strangers — making fun of him about having long hair,” Christine Rindler said. “We have had complete strangers come up to us while we are out and argue with me that my son is a girl, not a boy.
“He got stopped all the time from entering the men’s restroom, and I had to repeatedly tell people, ‘No, he is a boy, not a girl,’ even though he would obviously be dressed in ‘boy’ attire.
“But he never let it bother him,” she said. “I think we took it a lot harder than he ever did.”
After the shearing, Thomas’ only comment was, “I look weird.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.
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