The women over at BoomerGirl are saying Hooray for Gray because…

baby boomers are, as usual, opting to do it their way. So long, stigma, hello gray.

It’s a fashion statement showing up more and more, even in Hollywood (think of a classy-looking Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” or the radiant Helen Mirren at the Oscars).

“Baby boomers aren’t afraid. They led the way in coloring hair and now that they are older, they don’t hesitate not to color their hair either,” says Greg Chavez, owner of J.Gregory, an upscale Colorado Springs, Colo., salon.

My wife would die to be able to dye – and maybe literally die.

32 years ago, we were planning a trip to our 10th high school graduation reunion. She had been talking about “doing something” to her hair. I suggested that IF she insisted, that would be a good time to go ahead.

She did. Long car ride, and four hours later, I looked over at her and noticed that the frames of her glasses were a little tight on her temple. Then she turned to face me and I realized her face was swelling.

So we found an emergency room and with a shot for an allergic reaction, we were on the road again.

She isn’t of Asian descent, but her dad was right when he said she looked like …

Connie Chung – because her face was so swollen.

A few years and more gray hair later a hair-dresser friend said she wanted to try a hypo-allergenic hair dye patch test on her. Tested it in the crook of her arm and created a severe burn.

A few years later and still more gray hair, she found a hair-dresser who told her she had an all natural dye to try. No large patch test this time, just a patch the size of a dime on the top of her arm. Within minutes, she had a reaction.

It really doesn’t matter to me, but when she sees women her age with little or no gray, she notices. She says if her hair was ALL gray she would be OK with it. But her hair is gray around her face and then mostly brunette on the rest of her head.

About the only time she talks back to the tv is when Oprah or Tyra talk about doing fabulous makeovers, which always include dying or bleaching or highlighting.

If this doesn’t get me in too much trouble, I’ll tell you sometime about when she got a henna tattoo.