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 practice a little now ?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
Jenny Joseph
;D
This is one of my very favourite poems ;D ;D
There was a 91 year old woman on our local news last night who was getting ready to do a sky dive. That's how I want to be and my safety helmet will be purple!! ;D
Sounds just like me ;D
I showed my colleague the first poem and she came up with this gem ....
Start Wearing Purple by a band called Gogol Bordello
Start wearing purple wearing purple
Start wearing purple for me now
All your sanity and wits they will all vanish
I promise, it's just a matter of time...
I known you since you were a twenty, and I was twenty,
but thought that some years from now
a purple little little lady will be perfect
for dirty old and useless clown...
I know it all from Diogenis to Foucault
from Lozgechkin to Paspartu
I ja kljanus obostzav dva paltza, Schto ty,
schto muziko poshla ot Zvukov Mu!...
Party!
So Fio-Fio-Fioletta! Etta! Va-va-va-vaja dama ti moja!
Eh podayte nam karetu, vot etu, i mi poedem k ebenjam!
So yeah, start wearing purple wearing purple
Start wearing purple for me now
All your sanity and wits, they will all vanish
I promise, it's just a matter of time!...
;D
I'm already rather like that. I wear purple, usually with red or green (they look fantastic together!) What am I going to be like when I'm 90?
Yep! That's me already and I don't give a fig! ;D
I've always felt rather sad about that poem. To me, it seems to show a lack of courage to break out of what she thinks is an "acceptable" image, plus some kind of strange need to put off being herself until she's old (and thus presumably nobody will care much what she does or how she looks) - very sad indeed! I don't see wearing purple (or any other colour) as eccentric at all - in fact, in my humble experience, people who think they're eccentric very rarely are, it's the ones who genuinely don't see anything odd in their personal choices who turn out to be true eccentrics. I'm thinking of my grandfather, a smallholder who wore shorts and sandals all year round and even had a pinstripe suit made up with short trousers (which caused an uproar when he turned up to my parents' wedding in London). ;)
some of us have been trained like that since birth.
when i went back to college 5 years ago, i was asked by my mother and grandmother "what are you putting yourself through that stress for".
i'm only just breaking out of the accepted mould now, so i use it as a happy poem and something to aspire to.
;D
Yes, a lot depends on your personal situation. I hope you enjoy college and the experience is fruitful for you. (Been there, done that - at 50 - stayed on to teach for a while afterwards and am now retired, wondering how I ever found time to do it all and live a personal life as well!). ;)
My best friend (we met at college as the only "matures" in a class full of 18-year-olds) also loves the poem. I keep telling her that one day she'll outgrow her rose-tinted glasses, but will she listen to me? Will she *&$*.
Oh Mrs KP, it's a wonderful poem, it makes me laugh out loud.
I have a good friend who is 84 and she is JUST like that.Great fun to be with.Outings are never dull.
I think I'm doing well in training, I'm learning how to spit-and-miss next.
Maggie.(E) ;D ;D ;D
Reminds me of my wonderfl neighbour who was told by her doctor that the best solution to the angina attacks brought on when she showed her brownie pack how to do cartwheels was to stop doing cartwheels at her age - never seen anyone so outraged
roflmao. what do doctors know ??? ;D
This thread makes me smile. I go to a 60+ Keep Fit class and am one of the "junior"members. Some like me were astonished to find out the ages of some of the members who are 80+. It's not that they look particularly youthful but it's their attitudes, opinions and outlook that belie their ages.
None of them are eccentrics, they don't stand out in a crowd but they are certainly "happy in their own skins", realise their own limitations but are interested and enthusiastic about all that life has to offer. I really believe I've gained more about ignoring "old age" from them than all the exercises!!
Although certainly not the shy and retiring type - I have never been one to 'push' myself too much - I like my comfort zone - however, since turning 40 last year I keep hearing a TV ad somewhere in my brain that says "do something each day that scares you..." I can't remember what it advertises but I have decided to put myself outside of my comfort zone as much as possible now.....and if that means dumping the slimming-hides-all-sins black in favour of lurid mauve then so be it!! ;D
Wicker I remember my Mum telling me when she was 90: "I know I look old and wrinkly, but I'm just the same person under the skin". She felt the same person at 90 as she had at 20.
As far as I'm concerned that holds good: I'm maybe a bit wiser than I was then, but with the added life experience I have now if i want to rock the system i know so many more ways to do it!! ;D ;D ;D ;)
I think Jenny Joseph's poem is a statement about that: all your life you conform, you go to work, you bring up your family and do all the right things.. When retirement comes along there's more time to play! and do some of the outrageous things you might have done when you were younger except....
Mind you in retrospect I think I did plenty when I was 20.. but that'll be for another day! ;)
You've summed it up nicely, Ann! Doubt I'll ever do anything really outrageous - but if I do I won't care!! ;) Age really does have some compensations ;D
Megan
Maybe it's all about growing old DISgracefully.
The spitting needs more practice, and I'm making do with gin instead of brandy.
I am almost 69 and I have never had as much fun in my life. I have no responsibilities (they are all grown up) I can stay up all night and read in bed. I can stay in bed all day if the weather is bad. I have enough (just) money to do my own thing. I am a SKIN (spend kids inheritance now). I can go down to the allotment from dawn to sunset. I don't have to go home to make anybody a meal. I can leave the housework till another day. I can go on holiday for a month at a time.(or not bother) Sure a bit more seems to drop of or go wrong with my body ,but I can still dig all day and not get backache. I can make compost bins, and cold frames. I can build walls and foundations for sheds. What more can I ask for? I thank God for another day on the allotment.
Rosemary
Attagirl, Rosemary (I particularly like "SKIN" and would use it myself if I had any sprogs to diddle out of "their" inheritance)! From all the replies to this thread, it seems there are plenty of us old do-ers about, which is encouraging. I'm not a huge admirer of Richard Branson, but I do like the title of his autobiography: Screw It - Just Do It. Beats wishful thinking every time. ;D