Appearances Are Transitory; Real Beauty Lies Deep Inside

Appearance is important.

We are told this so often and in so many ways that many of us regard it as truth rather than contention.

How white are your teeth? How clear is your complexion? How full is your hair?

Advertising, as you can see, helps transmit the message. Cosmetic companies make millions out of our petty vanities.

So it’s nice to see examples of people defying the pressure to conform; people who accept who and what they are, no matter the fashion.

Such a person is Spokane’s own Cari Bickley, also known as Mrs. Washington. Chosen from a group of five finalists at a pageant on April 26, Bickley stands out from her peers in several ways.

Most notably, though, she stands out in appearance.

Cari Bickley is bald.

Having lost her hair to a disease called alopecia following the birth of her third child, the 35-year-old Bickley doesn’t wear a wig. Her sole concession to her hairless condition is a ubiquitous baseball cap.

In an interview with Spokesman-Review writer Marny Lombard last year, Bickley spoke of talking to junior high girls about peer pressure and appearance.

“I ask if they were parents, what would they want for their children?” The girls, Bickley told Lombard, cited being pretty or popular or having material things.

“Then I take my hair off and tell them, ‘You will change. You will not always be young and pretty. It’s who you are inside that counts.”’

Words to live by.

Calling all fathers: What moment in your life epitomized the essence of fatherhood? If you have an interesting answer to this question, we may want to include it in an upcoming Father’s Day story. Send your responses to: Dads’ Moments, c/o IN Life, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Or e-mail danw@spokesman.com. Please include a daytime phone number.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo