A few years ago I was in Publix with my young granddaughter. We went to the bakery section to get her the “free cookie” that publix advocates. After finding out that the “free cookie” did not include her cherished “Gingerbread Boy,” I murmured to her in my best grandmotherly fashion that I would buy her the “Gingerbread Boy.” At once, her eyes grew wide and she emitted excitement and glee as only a little child can.
“You are the best wrinkled-eyed grandmother in the whole world,” she announced.
Her true and sincere compliment taught me two things: (1) My wrinkles are really showing and (2) It’s really OK to have wrinkles. (Having said all of that, if anyone knows of a way to get rid of wrinkles, contact me immediately.)
In the early 1900’s, Margery Williams wrote a story for children, The Velveteen Rabbit. This story describes how a little boy played with his toy velveteen rabbit until his beautiful velveteen fur was falling off and all the pink rubbed from his nose where the little boy had kissed. Him. However, it was the aging process and love from the little boy that made the rabbit Real.
According to the book, the Skin Horse was the oldest stuffed animal in the nursery, so he was wise and experienced. One day, the Velveteen Rabbit, who was the new person in the little boy’s nursery, asked the Skin Horse, “What is Real? Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with but REALLY loves, you, then you become Real. It doesn’t happen all at once. You become. Once you become Real, you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.”
So I think these words are true. I prefer to think of myself as getting Real instead of old and perhaps wrinkles are even OK. After all, the Velveteen Rabbit was told, “Once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
Give yourself a real treat and download The Velveteen Rabbit at: It is free! http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/read.jsp?id=478. (I really think it is for adults.)
Francine Larson is the co-author of "Character Keys to a Bright Future." She writes poetry, short stories and now has a column in a local paper regarding "stretching the dollar."
Her web site is http://www.goodcharacterpress.com