Dear Kid,

First, a new word: portmanteau.

Which is neither an article of clothing nor an adult beverage. A portmanteau is a combination of two words (the sounds and the meanings). Like “smog” is a combination of “smoke” and “fog” (and no matter what you call it is disgustingly awful).

Movember is a portmanteau of “mo” (the nickname for mo-ustaches) and “November” (the nickname for “gotta cook for Thanksgiving and shop for the holidays!”).

Back in 2004, a bunch of “satew” (they were in Australia, so I tried to write “mates” upsidedown—work on it) decided to grow moustaches during November to raise awareness for various cancers (like prostate cancer and testicular cancer) and depression in men.

(Which in some ways is a little odd since prostates and testicles generally aren’t anatomically close to the mustache area.)

Since then, Mo Bros are encouraged to grow their facial hair during November to help “change the face of men’s health.”

There are 13 kinds of mustaches (Chevron, Dali, English, Fu Manchu, Handlebar, Horseshoe, Imperial, Lampshade, Painter’s Brush, Pencil, Pyramid, Toothbrush, Walrus—go ahead and count, I’ll wait).

There’s an organization called the American Mustache Institute dedicated to battling a demonstrated discriminatory culture against people of Mustached American heritage…by promoting the growth, care and culture of the lower nose forest.

In the US, the organization raising money for Movember is Movember.com.

Whether you choose to go scruffy, full facial, clean shaven, or somewhere in between, please remind all the men in your life to get the tests, medical care, and/or help they need.

Love, Mom