You Need a Red Hat
by
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Lost Love
Overwhelming personal grief is a most formidable adversary.
Yet, its soul-tearing jagged edges wear smooth with the passage
of time. We even learn to embrace our grief, knowing that
richness of life is contingent upon the memory of both the
pleasures and the pain. For, who would willingly forget the love
lost?
Renewal
Oh, to love again! And to be loved as well. But, is it worth the risk? What about the potential for more disappointment and anguish? For, true love requires commitment, the surrender of one's self to the needs of another.
"Never again will I let myself be so vulnerable," says one, offended by her past romantic delusions. "I will try again," says another. The first one looks back to the past to find a reason for avoiding future risk-taking. It is a self-defeating ploy that negates any chance for the establishment of a meaningful relationship. The other looks positively to the future, reaching out for new wonderment and fulfillment.
Should you be satisfied with the calm and safety of the cove when unfamiliar waters offer the potential for enrichment? Thomas Aquinas once observed, "If the primary objective of a sea-captain were to preserve the security of his ship, he would keep it in port forever."
This is not the philosophy of any sophisticated lady who is
proudly wearing a red hat...
Old Grandpa Leonard had been feeling badly for the last month or so. He complained about achy bones, stomach pains, poor hearing and a bunch of other infirmities. Finally, grandma took him off to see the family doctor who prodded and poked the old man for what seemed like an endless time before saying that he Couldn't find anything wrong.
Pulling grandma aside, he did offer a suggestion or two. "You take Lenny home," he said to grandma, "and give him lustful sex at least three times a day for the next month. And be sure you cook only his favorite meals during that time."
Grandma listened intently, thinking of how difficult it would be to meet the doctor's special requirements, especially since Lenny had been somewhat "inoperative" for the past few years.
When Lenny and grandma got back into the car for the trip home, the weary old man asked his loving wife, "Well, honey, what did the doctor say?"
"It's sure as hell, that you're gonna' die," grandma replied.
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About the Book
The red hat is worn by ladies over the age of fifty who feel an intense need to be e-womancipated, that is, to develop an independent "free swinging" lifestyle. The red hat symbolizes a grandma on the move, a grandma with friends, an auntie with flair, a widow with a future. A sophisticated red-hat lady has confidence, class and a cultured sense of humor. She resists the depressive influence of advancing age.
You Need a Red Hat offers a collection of humorous, thoughtful and incisive reflections about what it is really like to grow old. Do you find that your entire being feels like lead when you are supposed to be living the wonder of your "golden" years?
Does it take you all night long just to get started doing what you used to enjoy doing all night long? Do your aches and pains seem to be God's revenge for all of those good times you had- when you were too young to know that those were the good times?
You too, can fight the dreaded disease known as Youth Deficit Disorder. Go out and get yourself a big, bright, RED HAT.
About the Author
Donald Hurad spent his entire life taking too much of it too seriously. Now, as a septuagenarian, he looks back on his fifties and sixties and wonders why he didn't take more time out to have more fun.
He admires the ladies of the Red-Hat Society, those women over the age of fifty who are dedicated to the enjoyment of well- deserved, e-womancipated self-indulgence.
Life is too short and precious to live it overwhelmed by youth deficit-induced depression. The author applauds the red-hat ladies who are eager to enjoy it to the fullest.
Emeritus professor of psychology at Phoenix College, Dr. Hurad and his wife Margaret now thrive as retirees in the mountains near Prescott, Arizona.