Marge Escalante would do anything to help her daughter, Angie (Waupoose) Merino, including trading places with her so Angie wouldn’t have to deal with diabetes and the resulting health issues.
“She doesn’t go anywhere anymore,” Escalante said.
That might change following Merino’s makeover Wednesday, courtesy of hair stylist Cassie Brady at Kelly’s Hair Studio in Shawano.
Escalante answered a classifieds ad that Brady posted about doing makeovers.
“I want my daughter to feel good,” Escalante said. “This is going to be good for her.”
The makeover, which included coloring and styling, brought a big smile to Merino’s face.
“I love it,” she said. “I’ve been wanting to do something with my hair. I love my mom and I love her for doing this. It really built up my self-esteem.”
Brady placed the ad because she wanted to “pay it forward” after someone did something nice for her.
“I’m glad I could help somebody out,” said Brady, who plans to provide makeovers for four other people as well.
Merino, 37, has been going through a lot of health issues. She needed a kidney transplant and has four-hour dialysis sessions three days a week. She needs open heart surgery for blockages and a valve replacement. That will take place when a sore on her leg heals. She uses a walker to get around, and she is blind in her left eye.
“People need to know that diabetes is not fun,” Escalante said.
Escalante recently watched helplessly as her daughter cried from the pain during procedures to help her leg heal.
“If I could, I’d take everything away from her,” Escalante said. “We don’t know what to expect.”
A joy in Merino’s life is 7-year-old son, Nelson Merino Jr., born after years of pregnancies that ended in miscarriages. The Merinos live in Keshena.
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