Hands

[dolo amber]

My hands have changed lately.


Like most of me, they're no longer the picture of youth they once were. It makes me sad. The knuckles are beginning to thicken, much like my middle. Veins are beginning to be a bit more prominent. I'm only 36! I don't want to have old lady hands yet. My face retains the baby fat look of someone much younger, but my hands are a dead giveaway.

Then one day while typing, I look down and a strange realization hits me. These aren't my hands. These are Nana's hands. My nana who grew up in the hills of Kentucky, a relative of Loretta Lynn and living a life quite the same as was chronicled in the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter." My nana who, married at 14, had 3 children before she was 18. My nana whose first husband (and my father's father) killed himself by drinking poison on her porch while in a drunken rage at her taking nursing classes at night, where she was to his mind, assuredly "sleeping around on him."

Nana went on to marry again, and get her nursing degree. She never had an easy life. Her second husband died of a heart attack after only a few years. She had to work 12-16 hour shifts on her bad feet and knees to support herself and her family. She was a peculiar lady, ridiculing you in one breath about your appearance, and hugging you with a fiercness that threatened to squeeze the very essence out of you in the other. And laughing. She had an amazing laugh, just annoyingly nasal enough to make you laugh along with her, even if it was at yourself. Always had a 6-pack of some horrid beer in the fridge, despite being a very devout Presbyterian, said it "settled her stomach." ;)

My youngest child is named for Nana. She passed into the ether a few years ago. I have inherited from her bad knees, bad eyesight, and my hands. Now when I look at them, I'm no longer concerned about lost looks. Instead, I smile. :)


Sorry for the ultra-cheese there, and I know I'm not that great of a writer, but this just hit me and I felt like writing it down and sharing.

[scarlet_owl]

1. Good story. Your Nana was a special person!

I'm glad that you smile and think of her when you look at your hands. I know how you feel. I am 22, and my hands look very old. My veins are very prominent and I have arthritis that makes them knobbly. My mother and my sister both have hands like this, and I think it's neat that the three of us have a similar feature. We also have knobby chins. It may sound weird, but it feels like I'm a member of an exclusive little group. (I have taken a lot of Lorcet today, so my posts may be a little strange)

[nuxvomica]

2. Cheese? Jeez!

The dead are certainly with us today and sometimes that's pretty good company. Thanks for sharing and I don't mean that sarcastically.

[dolo amber]

3. Maybe

"schmaltz" would've been a more appropriate word. ;)

Trust me, if you knew me, you'd be laughing your arse off that I wrote anything that, er...sensitive.

edit: thank you both for reading it and replying with kind words though, I appreciate it. :)

[dolo amber]

4. Shameless kick

'cos I'm finding myself to be strangely proud of this...

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. You deserve to be proud!

You will always carry this reminder of your nana with you. may it be an inspiration to you always, and thanks for sharing!

Sounds like a hell of a woman.

And I think older hands that show work are bloody marvellously attractive. Some day I'd like to do a photo book of older hands.

[youngred]

5. Very nicely said

and an excellent tribute to your nana.

[trof]

7. now THAT is a real 180 story

and I mean that as a high compliment.
Ol' 180 can put you RIGHT THERE.
Haven't seen him around lately.

Wait till you get spots.
I got spots.
oooooo
geezer

[short bus president]

10. And I appreciate it as a high compliment.

Supernova is over tonight, and when I told her and shortbus that, they both said "Whoa!". :)

Although this will result in yet another shamelss kick, I want to thank you guys who read it and replied. I so wish I could write well, and usually throw out everything I write because I think it's horrible. So even the most "polite" praise is appreciated more than you'll ever know.

[dolo amber]

11. D'OH!!

It SO helps to be signed in on your own account when posting...:eyes: :D

[SoCalDem]

8. Hands, necks & chins always tell the "truth"

I guess the rich and the vain, can nip and tuck and inject with the best of them, but ultimately, Mother Nature always "wins"..

My epiphany was one day when I looked into the mirror and saw a tiny mole.. I had never really noticed it before, it had always been UNDER my chin, and yet now it was visible without tilting my head back...eek..

Hands are the ultimate giveaway.. It's hard to disguise those ever-enlarging "freckles"..

Time marches on...

[ikojo]

9. OH I know how you feel. I look at my hands and hope

they don't look like old lady hands either. What made me really think about them recently was seeing a recent picture of Joan Collins..while she has had a face lift (or two) her hands make her look very, very old. I am thankful that my sister, Jeannie, is the one taking after our grandma...she can deal with it much better than I can that's for sure.

Your nana sounds like she was a fighter and very sweet lady in her own way.

Thank you for sharing the story of your nana.