Hi Chicago <3

Before you read further I will go ahead and confirm what some of you are already speculating.

This is it —

I apologize for not being prompt in responding to some of your emails, texts, and DM’s over the last month. I had no words for the thoughts swirling around in my head and heart, so I took some time to reflect on all the goodness my time with you has brought me. While I have drafted a much simpler email announcing my departure countless times, it never conveyed both the immense gratitude and deep sadness I feel in writing this letter. 

There will never be a good time to say goodbye to you. 

Over the last 3 years since I made North Carolina my home, you have all acted as my tether to the city I love so dearly. Every time my plane touched down at ORD I sighed a breath of relief. The Midwest cradled me through some of my most transformative years. I have many of you to thank for who I am today both professionally and personally. There often isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t reflect on a conversation that I’ve had with one of you. Although I cannot say Chicago raised me, I can say it chiseled away layers of me I never knew existed and subsequently draped me in new ones that were much thicker… yet softer. The Midwest has a way of both humbling and holding you. 

Each trip I took from the beginning I thought would be my last. I had no idea how long the continued support I received from you all would last. But, here we are, over three years later. With tears in my eyes I am grateful and amazed that I have had the privilege to remain the person that you trust to cut your hair. Thank you, sincerely. 

While I’ll never say never, my time of consistently traveling back and forth to work in Chicago has come to an end. While I wish I could speak to every one of you individually and recommend someone to continue cutting your hair, that simply isn’t something I can take on. What I can offer is that if I were looking to have my haircut in Chicago, Thistle & Palm and Spoke & Weal would be the first places I would trust with my hair. I wish you all success in finding the right fit in your stylist. 

As my life here starts to unfold and I continue to build my community here in Charlotte, I’m planning on keeping my Midwest tendencies I’ve picked up along the way. I’ll still say “ope” when I bump into someone at the grocery store, I’ll linger in every doorway “midwestern goodbye-ing” at every dinner party I leave, and I’ll certainly never stop talking about “the weather we’re having.” 

I hope my next trip back will be one where I can return as tourist, and spend my mornings walking by Lake Michigan and my evenings catching up over dinner with my dear friends who have held me so sweetly both during my time living there, and over the last three years of traveling. 

I want to extend a thank you one last time to anyone who has ever sat in my chair in Chicago. Some of you have stuck with me since I was just an assistant training on Wednesday mornings. Some of you have only known me as a part time Chicago resident and chose to see me even though my travel schedule was erratic and unpredictable. For the two extremes and everything in between, thank you. You’ll never really know the impact you’ve had on me. 

Please don’t be strangers. Social media feels hard and heavy these days so I’m often not on it. But my inbox is always open!

Take care of yourselves in these deeply unsettling times. Love deeply, dream wildly, and never give up hope in this world! You’ve touched my life in more ways than just allowing me to cut your hair over all these years. I am forever grateful for you. 

Anna McCord