I noticed it first in my armpits: baby hairs, soft and fine, but present. Taking root. Growing.

And then yesterday, I saw something even more exciting…

My eyebrows are starting to come back. There are teeny tiny hairs beginning to peek out.

There are even a few baby eyelashes making their first careful reappearance.

Today, there were the first signs of roughness on my legs.

My hair is coming back.

Even though there is a slight annoyance in contemplating shaving my armpits while I am still practically bald, it made me smile to see this life taking hold.

Those little armpit hairs, more than anything, felt like a sign of health.

I’ve read enough in online discussion forums to know that these things often cycle. It’s quite likely these hairs will fall out and grown again at least once, possibly more.

But they are there.

And I can’t begin to describe the thrill in seeing those little eyebrow hairs in the mirror. and realising that what I thought was just a shadow is actually the return of something I had lost.

New growth.

My body is maybe finding a bit of spring after the toughest storms of winter.

And in my grateful heart, I whisper words of encouragement to each of those little follicles:

Grow, grow, grow…