Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Red Hat Ladies

I belong to the Red Hat Society. I'm not sure if you have to be 50 or 55 years old to become a Red Hat lady but, needless to say, our group here in the senior park are over qualified. We go to lunch once a month all decked out in our purple and red outfits, some wearing outrageous hats with multi plumes, and thoroughly enjoy the attention we draw. I have yet to see anyone greet us with derisive laughter but we seem to bring happy smiles to people's faces. I think they admire our bravado for daring to dress silly and still enjoy ourselves and our age. We've paid our dues and we don't have to be anything other than what we are. We're enjoying life and anyone seeing us knows that at a glance.

One of my favorite moments as a Red Hat lady happened a few years ago. We were all going to lunch in old Kissimmee so our little train of cars pulled into town and we parked across the road from the restaurant. Our "Queen", beautifully clad in a long purple dress with flowing red boa and one of the most elaborate hats possible, stepped into the busy street and held up her hand to stop traffic so that the rest of us could cross safely. Cars backed up for a few blocks but all of the drivers I could see were smiling broadly.

Sometimes, showing the silly side of your personality makes everyone around you happy. The Red Hatters do that with style!

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