Dustin

Bearded since: 2012. I am a dedicated, permanent beard grower.

Comments:
Why did I grow my beard? In the summer of 2012 in western Nebraska, a very good friend of mine was in a terrible accident and drowned in an irrigation canal. About a month before he passed we were sitting on his porch and he commented on my scruff. He was saying, "D@mmit, you sure can grow a god-like beard. Someday please grow that thing out for at least a year."
He passed shortly after and upon June of 2013, it was exactly twelve months from when I started my facial landscape. Now that my journey is coming to an end, I'm a bit nervous. I've never liked the clean shaven look. Throughout high school and college I experimented with differing combinations and lengths to settle contemptibly with a full short-faced beard. Now my giant beard isn't just a goal achieved but a part of my identity, a part of my legacy. When I'm talked of in third person folks say, "Yeah, Dustin, the man with the glorious beard." So now do I trim or do I push on? Do I go past where no man had gone and walk with Roger Waters to the dark side of the moon? Do I stay the course?

How do I feel about my beard? Proud! I feel like Jesus is smiling on me while I water ski atop dolphins in a sea of Arnold Palmer!