If you’ve seen me around town the last couple months with a scruffy appearance, there’s a reason.

Like several men around Vicksburg and across the nation, I decided to participate in “No-Shave November” or “MoVember” as some call it.

If you’re not familiar with No Shave November, it is a month-long event in which participants forgo shaving and grooming in order to evoke conversation and raise cancer awareness and prevention.

No-Shave November has been around for about a decade.

Participants in No-Shave November have always been willing to ditch their razors and, more recently, donate to cancer fighting foundations. But what started as an easy way for a few followers on Facebook to donate their hard-earned money has turned into a nationwide celebration.

Every November for about the last decade, these No-Shavers have donated the cost of grooming (from a few dollars on razors to $100 on a salon visit) and helped raise money and awareness for cancer prevention, education, and research and to let their hair grow in the process.

Like many of you, cancer has impacted me personally with the loss of friends and family. But it wasn’t until the loss of a dear high school friend to cancer that I became more aware and involved in the effort to donate funds to cancer research.

My friend Paula was about as close to a sister as I will ever have.

She was the most unique person I had ever known, always positive about every thing. If you were having a bad day, all you had to do was seek out Paula and that dimpled smile would make your day so much better.

Paula and I remained close friends after high school and shared many milestones in our lives — both good and bad — but eventually lost touch. So when I got a phone call from her in December 2009, I was excited to hear her voice on the other line and thought she was calling to wish me a Merry Christmas. Instead, it was a call that I will never forget. Paula called to tell me she was dying of cancer.

I nearly dropped the phone as I sat there in my office listening to her explain what was going on and how the doctors had tried everything. I don’t remember all that Paula told me during that phone conversation, but I’ll never forget how her faith in God was strong and she even laughed. And as she did so, I could picture in my mind that dimpled smile.

Since I’m one of those guys nearly incapable of growing a beard, I began not shaving in September in order to have the appearance of a full beard. At this point, I’m ready to shave and will do so this weekend, but come September I will once again grow my facial hair out in honor of my friend.

Rob Sigler is editor of The Vicksburg Post. You may reach him at Rob.Sigler@VicksburgPost.com.