How did you get that hat?” asked a man shopping nearby in the mall as he admired Sally Freind’s brightly colored handmade cap. “I think my wife would like to have one of those.”
“I got it from a friend,” she politely responded. “But first I had to get cancer.”
Head coverings known as “happy hats” knitted by Laura Kinney of Bethel Baptist Church, Odenville, in St. Clair Baptist Association have blessed Freind, along with many other women enduring chemotherapy and losing their hair.
The brown, black, pink and multicolored hats made of almost hairlike “fun fur,” also known as “eyelash” yarn, take Kinney two hours to complete.
“I just do what I like to do,” she said humbly of her handiwork.
For more than 10 years, Kinney has been knitting and crocheting creations from blankets and booties for premature babies to sweaters for underprivileged children.
She has given her time and talents to organizations like Threads of Love and Warm Up America!, as well as a knitting group within her church.
Four years ago, Kinney began making the chemotherapy caps when her friend Gail Whitten of Friendship Baptist Church, Springville, in St. Clair Association began treatment.
“She brought the cap to me before I realized I was going to need it,” said Whitten, adding that she needed it within a week of receiving it.
The compliments her cap received from others in treatment became so common that Kinney was asked to make more caps and pass them out to others like Freind.
Freind gushed about her multiple multicolored happy hats. “It made having cancer easier,” she said.
“Everywhere I went, people would ask where did I get my darling little hat, and it made me feel as if I were not marked as a poor cancer victim,” Freind said.
While the trauma of discovering terminal cancer topped off by the reality of losing hair can be overwhelming, the chemo caps offer comfort during a rough time, said Chris Burns, senior pastor of Bethel Baptist and a longtime friend of Kinney. “The Bible says that a woman’s hair is a part of her glory and when it’s lost, it’s possible for people to feel vulnerable and incomplete,” he said.
Making hats for others is a precious gesture on Kinney’s part, Burns said — especially since she has suffered from arthritis in her hands for many years.
If every church had a member with Kinney’s heart and spirit, then it would change the world, Burns said.
Kinney doesn’t think there is anything unique about her kindness, but Whitten affirmed that it’s an uncommon gift. “Laura thinks she is common but she is very special — very special.”
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