My hopes were met with relief. The first bit of great news was that I didnāt have to do another big chop! I could relax my curls and trim the processed ends away slowly. As a result, when I got the first relaxer after my Jheri Curl, my hair was the longest it had ever been! I was delighted and immediately took advantage of my newfound glory. Black girls with ārealā long, straight hair were uncommon at that time, so I moved into āfirst placeā in the hair competition amongst my peers. Ā