She's been with her customers through weddings and funerals, perms and flips.
Now, after 52 years of cutting hair in Fulton, Lyda Vaughan is packing up her clippers to retire.
"I want to thank my customers for all the years of their patronage," she said Friday. "I've enjoyed every one of them - even the ornery ones."
Though she most recently operated out of Lyda's Beauty Shop (510 Court St.), Vaughan's career has taken her all over Fulton. After graduating from Fulton High School, she went straight to cosmetology school. The job seemed a natural fit.
"I used to like to cut my dolls' hair, though I got in trouble for it," Vaughan said.
Her first job was at Forest's Beauty Shop, which operated in the basement of the former Palace Hotel (500 Market St.). She started in April of 1967. That's where Jackie Britts and Mary Jane Schultz first became her customers.
Both were in the salon Friday, eating slices of Vaughan's farewell cake while a few regulars got one last trim.
"I was with her when she came in, and I'll be with her when she goes out," Britts said. "We have a good friendship."
Vaughan has guided Britts through decades of changing styles.
"I've had the flip, I've had it rolled in the back," Britts recited.
"She's done it all, from dark hair to white," Vaughan added.
Schultz said she's had a standing Friday appointment with Vaughan for many years.
"She was at Forest's, then at Jewels," she recalled. "Then Lyda went out on her own - she rented a shop on Fifth Street, near where Lulu's is now, and then she bought this building. She's been here for 17 years."
Much as Vaughan's long-time regulars can retrace her career, she can retrace the lives of her regulars. She loves chatting with her customers - it's one of the reasons she's waited to retire, she said.
"If you want to know something, just come here and ask Lyda," Maryanne Dove said from her seat in the chair.
"We (regulars) get to know each other," Schultz said.
Vaughan's customers have brought in their children and grandchildren for first hair cuts. Vaughan visits some of her older customers who have a harder time getting out and about in their homes. She's even been called to local funeral homes to style former clients' hair just so.
"My daughter came down here to get her hair done for her wedding," Schultz said. "Lyda gave her a pixie cut when she was 2, and put her hair up in a French roll when she got married."
The business itself hasn't changed much over the year, Vaughan said. Bluing is out of style, and up-dos are in, but hair is hair. Vaughan said it's her customers who make the job interesting, and it's her customers she'll miss the most.
The feeling is mutual.
"I've been coming to her for 26 years," Maxine Garriott said while Vaughan snipped and combed. "It makes me cry to lose her."
Vaughan's husband, Lonnie, retired a few years ago, and Vaughan said it's time to part with the building. She said she may eventually return to cutting hair on a part-time basis. For now, she'll be spending time with her grandchildren and catching up with friends.
Several of her clients said they'll stay in touch.
"I had one gentleman yesterday who said, 'You know my girlfriend and I will be coming to your house,'" Vaughan said with a laugh.