KnitKnacks

Red Hat with Purple Flowers

My friend Irene gave me a pin for Christmas..a red hat with purple flowers on a card with these words: When I am an old lady, I will wear a red hat with purple flowers and say and do anything that suits me.

At first glance I thought...Yeah! Right! That's me....That's who I want to be and I don't want to be OLD first. Afterall, I do have my flamingo collection, my purple door with yellow spots and really none of these things are new with me.
I felt bad when a woman admired my LLBean all weather Mocs the other day and said she wished she had the nerve to wear red boots...hhhmmm. I guess I remember a time when I thought red was a little loud too but this woman is nearly my age! I told her where to get some and she wouldn't regret it.

THEN, I started thinking about some of the old women I've come in contact with recently..especially those we encounter while traveling and they seem to have some attitude, demeaner of entitlement which drives me over the edge. No way do I want to become that kind of entitled. That cute little saying couldn't mean women have to take it to the extreme, does it? So I decided I had to double check and find the source/author. FortunatelyI was able to find the original poem.....ahhh...take heed....no entitlement..just have a little fun now, before you get too old.

Jenny Joseph (1932-)

Warning

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other peoples' gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Posted by frani at January 4, 2004 12:27 PM