On Sunday May 8th, I will bring Mustache Love to The Barrymore Theater in Madison, Wisconsin as part of the Listen To Your Mother Show.
I wrote Mustache Love after my daughter told me about being teased for having a “little mustache” at school. Earlier this year, I auditioned for the LTYM Show with the piece, was cast in the show, and am now preparing to unleash the love upon a live audience. Reading over the piece in preparation for the show reminds me of how a little blog post, on a lesser known blog, somehow turned into a movement of inclusion and would inspire a community to come together and stand vigil over a friend in trouble.
It began with a hashtag. My homey, @TheBusBandit, retweeted my blog post and added #MustacheLove to his tweet. The response to the blog post was huge, both on Twitter, on the blog, via email, or in person. So many people showing the hairy-ass love, and sharing their own versions of #MustacheLove. The mustache was different for everyone. For some it was their weight, others, bucked teeth, acne, height, skin color, the list went on and on. Everyone had a “mustache”. Everyone.
#MustacheLove became more than just a blog post. It was a common thread, a right of passage, the act of breaking free of what is “pretty” or “normal” or “handsome” or “good”. It was acceptance. It was courage. It was reminding each other that we’re all okay, just as we are. Because as grown as we are, we still forget sometimes.
Then came the mustaches. They came from everywhere. Mustache jewelry, mustache window clings, mustache pillows, mustache photos, a group of my running buddies ran a route in the shape of a mustache just to make me smile. In 2010, I needed #MustacheLove more than ever. I had two major surgeries, needed to ask for help more than I ever had in my life, and had to come to terms with a very different kind of “normal”. The months after the first surgery brought a roller coaster of highs and lows, emotionally and physically. Three months later, I needed another surgery. I talked a good game, but I was scared, pissed, and tired. I was gaining weight, I walked with a cane due to my deteriorating gait, and I looked sickly and shitty all the time. As much as I knew how to help my daughter deal with self image issues, I started feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. And I knew better, right? Sigh.
Then something happened.
I logged into Twitter the night before my second surgery to find that hundreds of avatars had been slightly altered. There, I found the usual faces of my Twitter feed, with one addition. Each one of them was wearing a mustache. A friend had created a Twibbon that overlaid a wickedawesome mustache over all of their beautiful faces. That night, #gosarago was a trending topic in Milwaukee. It was a glorious mustache vigil that I will never forget.
On Sunday, May 8, 2011, I will read Mustache Love to an audience of hundreds. And it isn’t the same Mustache Love that I wrote almost a year and a half ago. The words are the same, with some small additions and edits, but it feels different. When I talk about the day I made the decision to let my own (impressive, btw) facial hair grow (for 6 months) to show my daughter that good people will love you no mater how hairy (or heavy, or buck toothed, or pigeon toed…) you are, I won’t just be thinking about the good people who will love you in spite of your mustache.
I’ll be thinking of all the people who will wear one for you.
19 comments
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May 3, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Ann's Rants
A piece that sparked a movement, that LTYM is SO PROUD to have you speak before our audience on Sunday.
**CHEERING AND VIRTUAL TUMBLING**
May 4, 2011 at 9:50 am
Sara
I’m so excited Ann. It means a lot to me to be a part of LTYM. xo
May 3, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Krista
omg this post just gave my GOOSEBUMPS goosebumps! I never knew the origin of the mustache phenomenon. I love this! Oh, sweet sarasantiago. You’re the bestest.
May 4, 2011 at 9:51 am
Sara
You’ve got a tackle hug coming. Clearly. 🙂
May 3, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Alexandra
I LOVE this.
And it’s NOT just b/c I can latina relate.
Frida T shirts unite!
May 4, 2011 at 9:51 am
Sara
Thank you Alexandra. Can’t wait to see you on Sunday. xo
May 3, 2011 at 8:18 pm
Nicole
This brought tears to my pancakey eyes.
May 4, 2011 at 9:52 am
Sara
Like syrup?! 😉 xo
May 3, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Laura Gregorski
You are my hero, Sara Santiago! #BBFF You have incredible strength – and you’re ingraining that in your kids too. Awesome attitude. Fabulous parenting! And incredible coping skills! Hats off to you, girl!
May 4, 2011 at 9:53 am
Sara
Thank YOU for being there for us through all of this, you are the best BrainSurgeryBFF I could ever ask for. Plus we’re like androids now. Androids who ride Harleys. WUT.
May 3, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Sorryana
Unbelievably awesome, Mascara! Wish I could be there to see/hear it and praise you in all your spectacular-ness! To all the hairy-lipped girls (and that includes my Italian/Sicilian ass)!! I loves my Finishing Touch (see info-mercial). Anyhooters, break a leg and… go on wicha bad self 😉
p.s. Chub rub sucks… loving you 😉
May 4, 2011 at 9:53 am
Sara
Hope you can feel the #MustacheLove coming at you in New Mexico!
May 4, 2011 at 3:42 pm
The Bus Bandit
Yo Yo Yo!
I’m a total jerk and a-hole who started reading the first paragraph of this yesterday and then got distracted with someone else. So I never realized you mentioned me in this piece. #Tears #Hugs #MoreTears #LookManly
But I’m totally on the #MustacheLove movement. It was the first – and still only – blog I ever read that I believe could and should be adapted into an indie film. I know America will fall in love with a coming of age Latina girl with a 5 o’clock shadow! 🙂
Great work and definitely keep up the good fight as it’s people like you and Anne who give me the courage to lower my walls from time to time and tell stories about humanity as a I live it.
Congrats and Happy Mother’s Day! 🙂
May 6, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Elizabeth @claritychaos
I didn’t realize there was such a back story to your piece when I heard you read it at our first rehearsal. I can’t wait to hear it again on Sunday, knowing the movement and love and support that’s part of it’s backstory.
-elizabeth
May 10, 2011 at 10:36 am
Deb
Sara, Ditto what Elizabeth said above. Had no idea about the backstory. THAT is so incredibly moving. You were AMAZING on Sunday, girl!
May 19, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Ado
Hi from Twitter (we exchanged a tweet about assholes).
(-:
I love your blog. So glad I found it. I’m not one for mustaches but after reading that mustache-love post, I’m going to have to reconsider. Really good. Loved it.
May 20, 2011 at 10:57 am
Sara
Glad you stopped by. I might not *really* be an asshole, but I play one on Twitter. 😉 xo
June 23, 2011 at 11:27 am
Word to Your Mother. « sarasantiago.com
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August 12, 2011 at 8:04 am
I want to meet @SaraSantiago & @AgustinSantiago IRL - Betsy A Decillis | Betsy A Decillis
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