My 17-year-old son shaved his head for his sick girlfriend – the next day, her mother said, “You need to come to the hospital and see what your son did.”

Diane. Don’t put this on him. He’s a kid trying to love your daughter through the worst thing that’s ever happened to her.”

She looked away, blinking fast.

“I felt my own temper start to rise.”

A cart rattled past. A doctor’s pager beeped somewhere down the hall.

“You don’t understand,” my best friend said, quieter now. “It’s easier if you just see it.continue reading …