March 16th. Well, I had another birthday. So I thought I'd post one of the extremely rare photos of myself that I actually like. This is taken in London, during my parents' "Reminiscence Tour." (My dad was in the American air force, stationed in England in the late 1950s.) But this photo was taken in, oh,1976?
That is my mom, clad in plaid, receding into the background. And, as Gus said when he saw this vintage photo, "Can you imagine getting up in the morning and saying to yourself, 'I think I will dress all in red plaid today...'?"
What I remember is my high-school-art-teacher-mom, when we went school shopping every fall, saying to me, "Julia, don't let me look foolish..."
And then, inevitably, she would reach for some comfortable, outrageous clothes (yes, there were a lot of Hawaiian shirts in her career), try something on, and say, "Well..?"
And I would always say, "No, you don't look foolish. Not at all."
A birthday come and gone? I hope it was full of sweet kisses from sweet children. And I love that we are here focusing on your mother dressed in red plaid (which has since made several fashion come-backs... did you see the snowboarders in the Olympics?) but are ignoring your stunning display of red sweater with pink pants.
"No, you don't look foolish. Not at all."
I'm sure it was said with love.
Posted by: Laurel McKee | 03/28/2010 at 10:08 PM