Today is the first of May, which makes me think of my mom, and how she told us she used to go outside in the morning on the first of May, when she was young, and wash herself with dew because it was supposed to take away her freckles.
I think it's so sad that back then red hair and freckles were considered ugly, and she always thought of herself as unattractive, because not only did she have red hair and freckles, she also had a Schlabach nose and chin.
To me, Mom is a beautiful woman.
I'm thankful that attitudes about red hair have changed and that my redheads were always complimented rather than pitied. (I also think it's cool that they all three managed the statistically improbable combination of red hair and brown eyes--read about the genetics of this here. Sadly, the red hair in this family tends to morph into ginger and auburn as they get older.)
My all-time favorite comment came from a friendly young lady named Lena Wagler (oops, Leanna) who visited at church with the SMBI choir, actually (MennoGame alert) a sister to Tommy Wagler whom we met briefly in Kenya. When she met Jenny she told us her mom used to say:
Quote of the Day:
"A face without freckles is like a night without stars."
Allow me to be a comforter. The day may well come when you will post: "I'm thankful that attitudes about ginger-and-auburn hair have changed and that my ginger-and-auburn-heads were always complimented rather than pitied."
ReplyDeleteNext allow me to be a commender. I sighted your book in Mexico!
The Schlabach nose & chin, eh? Has to be better than "die Hochstetler bae." :o)
ReplyDeleteAllow me to be a 'blog police' and say that Lena Wagler was actually Leanna Wagler. I'm grinning and hope you're not offended...
ReplyDeleteNo, Sharon, I'm not offended. It annoys me when people misspell my name, so I hate to do it to others.
ReplyDeleteI love that quote! When my boys were little, someone told them they were as cute as a speckled pup!
ReplyDeleteThere are many red- and auburn-heads in my extended family and we all have brown eyes. I didn't know we were a rarity. =)
ReplyDeleteActually it's Leanna Wagler, but nonetheless good memory to get that close.
ReplyDeleteOops, didn't read Sharon's comment first.
ReplyDelete