Lady Wrap Star Engineer and Cancer Warrior – Meet Sara!

Sara was advised to wear a wig to interview for her job as a female engineer so that she would look smarter. She didn’t. She had just started wrapping her patchy bald hair in the most basic of wraps, and looked pale and tired, and smart.

That was 5 years ago this month, and these days she wears her wraps the same way every day. But as Wrapunzelista and master wrapper Leorah says, ‘it always looks different.’ Sara’s engineering faculty have been amazing at supporting her throughout her cancer journey. The saline breast implants used for her breast reconstruction were actually recalled for causing other types of cancer – multiple types of lymphoma and internal squamous cell carcinoma. It was Sara’s male colleagues who encouraged her to go public and speak at the Breast Implant Safety Summit as a test and validation engineer who has been fighting for her life for years.

Last week, Sara and her coworkers shared their math accessibility story at the Microsoft Ability Summit in Redmond, Washington. Sara never expected that the fruits of her work from her early scarf and wicked cancer days would make such an impact around the world. Millions of people can now use math because it is accessible to assistive technology for disabled people. Like Sara.

This week on the Hopkins campus, Sara was celebrating her new scarves in the mailbox between meetings in her Space Systems Engineering polo, and found a copy of the first article she wrote about math 3 years ago in Baltimore She hesitated to share the picture of her sitting in an empty conference room deep in conversation with her co-presenter from the UK about a United Nations email on math accessibility. Her favorite scarf, her Hopkins sweatshirt, yoga pants, and a mask. It’s how this Sara gal gets work done!

After 25 years with patchy alopecia, Sara shaves her head, but it still has odd shadows. Without her scarves, she would not be comfortable showing up in the world or changing the entire math ecosystem. Love you, Wrapunzel!

Wrap a Friend and Spread the Wrapunzel Love

It’s a totally different (and wonderful!) thing to wrap someone else’s head other than your own. There’s the obvious – you can see the back of their head while you’re wrapping someone else. You can floof and fluff and see exactly how the wrap looks from the outside. Then there’s the unknown – how does it feel to the ‘wrapee?’ Too tight? Too loose? Just right? (think Goldilocks and the 3 Bears) Are they looking for a different style altogether? Do they suffer from headaches and prefer a criss cross in the back rather than a half-knot? Well, of course you may ask all of these questions of your ‘model’ while you’re working on them and see how things turn out, keeping in mind that it may be their first time wrapped and all of the ‘what ifs’ that come along with that. Come along on this journey to see how Wrapunzel has been wrapping others all along…buckle your seatbelts!

Through the years, Wrapunzel has had the privilege of participating so many head wrapping events! There was the International Headwrapping Expo in Detroit, MI, the Sababa Music Festival – a four-day camping and music gathering in upstate New York, events in Israel, Canada, all across America. There were events at synagogues and homes in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut areas, and plenty right here in Maryland as we prepared for photo shoots, etc. At all of these, the excitement was palpable! During these special times, there are just so many head wrappers of so many different cultural backgrounds and faiths coming together with the commonality of head wrapping. It’s a sight to behold. Here are a few pics of us wrapping others, as well as a pic or two of friendships made along the way that’ll give you ‘all the feels!’

Possibly one of the strongest wrapping friendship relationships can be the one between mothers and daughters. Mothers often love to wrap their ‘mini me’s! Mothers see their ‘littles’ playing dress-up, playing house, etc., and always wonder how the littles will look when they’re all grown up and have kids of their own. It’s just natural wondering, and so heartfelt and special. So, how do you think your littles will look all wrapped up? Here are a couple of pictures and a video that show maternal love and love of wrapping, strengthening their inseparable bond!

Mothers may also learn to wrap their daughters if their daughters are going through medical or sensory issues where covering ones head would be beneficial. It’s always a great skill to learn how to wrap somebody else.

And from the Wrapunzel Community on Facebook, Rhaevyn D. chimed in…

I don’t post my kids on social media, but my 5 year old loves having her head wrapped like me!

(Hana Andrea asked Rhaevyn if she’d be comfortable posting a photo with her daughter’s face blocked out.)

Rhaevyn D. replied…

My beautiful 5 year old. She said “I look so beautiful.”

No photo description available.

Sometimes, wrapping someone else helps keep their memory alive, as Jennifer S-A so sweetly shared…

I wrapped a friend years ago. Sadly she recently passed away. We were “twins”. Same rare genetic disorder EDS, we loved natural healing over pills. She was Jewish I am not. But she was so excited to be given scarves and a head band. She had hair for days so no puff needed. But she wrapped every day after that. She felt beautiful and it was easy for us to wrap and not pass out because of blood loss in our arms. We didn’t have to worry about our hair anymore and felt beautiful. It brought us a lot of joy and confidence ❤️ 

However one may wrap another, it’s a bonding experience for the ages – the wrapper gets to introduce someone to the entire world of covering one’s hair, or gets to be the first to try a new style on an experienced wrapper. The wrapee gets to experience head wrapping for what may be the very first time, or gets to see themselves with a whole new ‘do.’ It’s a time full of joy and happiness.

Beautiful Celebration

At the beginning of this week, we celebrated the tremendous gift of being able to free ourselves from everything that binds us, and plant the seeds for a beautiful 49 days of growth and nurturing of the soul.  For our second year, my husband and I hosted Pesach seder, and though it was our first one without family, we felt as though everyone we love was with us.  13 people from every kind of different background, a beautiful table, probing questions, going on a wild journey that lasted until the early morning hours.  A miracle.

My husband bought me a gorgeous lace top (it’s traditional for husbands to buy their wives gifts before the holiday) which I wore with a silk skirt and matching tichel.  I loved the outfit so much that I insisted on running outside before candle lighting to take pictures for you!

My tichel was my lovely teal 2in1 with a teal Shimmery, paired with a piece of lace and enhanced with a pearl headband!  Earrings are also a gift from my husband.  You can’t really see in the photo, but the twist on the side is both scarves together:

Hope you are all having a fabulous week!  Sending you lots of love!!
Xo – Andrea