Red Hat Warning!

By Frances Kolarek — Frances Kolarek-150 wide

Warning!
“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me . . .”

I wonder if British poet Jenny Joseph had any inkling of the effect her 20-line verse composed in a defiant mood, would have on her readers.

Her small declaration of independence was written when she stood at the brink of 30 in 1961 — barely 50 short years ago. The kinds of outrageous things Jenny planned to do in her ”old” age included pressing alarm bells and “learning to spit.”

 😝

It was the red hat with the purple dress, however, that caught the imagination of her readers who flagged down her bandwagon and jumped aboard. The Red Hat Society was founded in the United States in1998 and is now known worldwide. The organization says of itself: “The Red Hat Society is a group of women who greet middle age with humor, amusement, and energy. They enjoy acting silly and childlike while wearing red hats and purple outfits. The women of the Red Hat Society have a fantastic time growing old together by adding comedy and friendship to their life experiences.”

“Acting silly?” Do I hear an echo from Dr. Oliver Sacks here? Indeed.

As the French say, ”the more it changes, the more it’s the same.”

Here comes Judith Viorst, American author, journalist and poet, asking, “How old do I have to be before I can finally allow myself to do exactly — exactly — what I damn please?”

Judith has produced several slim volumes of verse, decade after decade. Suddenly Sixty was followed by I’m Too Young to Be 70 & Other Delusions and continued through Exceedingly Eighty.

Of this project, she once said “Starting after 60, I thought, I’m not going to be able to write a book of poems on the 70s. It’s going to be all moans and groans and complaints, and what is there to laugh about? But I found plenty to laugh about.” And her readers join in the laughter.

Not simply accepting age, but embracing it is the way to go, our experts tell us. ”Age-acceptance … neither decries nor denies the aging process. It recognizes that one can remain vital and present, engaged and curious and indeed continue to grow until our dying breath,” according to Anne Karpf, a British-based journalist and author of ”How to Age.”

Yes. Age is liberating. I think I’ll put on my red hat and go roller skating. Come join me!

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