As the summer was flying by,
something would happen and I would periodically think, hmmm…that would make a good blog. And, in my head, I’d start
composing it – only to promptly forget the entire subject as I moved on to the
next activity or conversation or…thing.
(I had a lot of things going on this summer.)
Of course, taking the time to
write an actual blog has been extremely difficult as I have spent more time on
the water – or in the water – this summer than I have in front of the computer.
Can I just say it has been a wonderful summer?!
But now we’re at the end of
August and my time at the pool is dwindling. So I have once again plopped
myself down in front of the computer.
So let’s see what prose comes out
of my little water-logged brain, shall we?
Well, given my advanced age (I
turn 59 in less than two weeks), I should probably start with my most recent
story and work my way backwards.
So that means I’ve gotta tell you
what happened to me today.
Crazy lady that I am – I now have
two more holes in my head. On purpose yet.
No, I didn’t get my nose gauged
or my eyebrows pierced. I’m not that
crazy.
For some odd reason, a couple
months ago I got it in my head that I wanted to celebrate the end of my 50s by
having my ears triple-pierced.
Call it my advanced mid-life
crisis. Or call it the beginning of my crazy-old lady phase. Either way, I
thought having three small diamond studs in my ears would look cool.
I had my ears pierced for the
first time to celebrate my thirteenth birthday. My mom took me to our
pediatrician and he pierced them. I then
spent my entire 8th grade buying tiny little earrings that would be dress-code
approved at our Catholic grade school.
And then when I was a freshman at
Ohio State, I had my ears double-pierced. This was about as wild as I got at
OSU. I can only imagine that my parents were relieved, although they never
talked about it. Tattoos weren’t as prevalent back then as they are today – or who
knows what might have happened?
At any rate, I ruminated for a
while on the idea of having my ears triple-pierced – and, when I realized I
still wanted to do it – I finally broached the subject with Vince.
He looked at me a little askance
and asked me why I’d want to do such a thing. I think there may have even been
a little eye rolling and head shaking going on. But it wasn’t like he was going
to stop me from going through with it. He’s supportive like that.
Yeah, like he had a choice.
But it wasn’t like I said I
wanted to get a tattoo or something. Vince is not a big fan. Well, he finds
them interesting on other people. But he doesn’t want one himself – or on me.
I’m not interested in getting a
tattoo either – so we’re in sync there. But who knows what might happen when my
advanced crazy old-lady phase kicks in in another ten years or so?
(Just kidding, honey!)
Anyway, I went to a couple
jewelry stores to scope out some small diamond studs. Of course, the sales
people at these places tried to talk me into buying bigger diamonds.
But it wasn’t what I was looking
for.
See, the earrings I wear in the
first spot are my mother’s diamond earrings. They are not big – probably half a
carat total weight. And they probably weren’t crazy expensive. My parents were
too frugal to go hog-wild on things like diamond earrings.
But I asked my mother if I could
borrow them to wear at my wedding (almost) nine years ago. She said yes. But instead
of lending them to me – she gave them to me.
What I didn’t know, was that my
mom (and dad) realized my mom was at the beginning stages of her dementia. Maybe
she was afraid she’d lose them. But I prefer to think that she wanted to
remember giving them to me and making me happy.
So I cherish these earrings.
The earrings I wear in the
double-pierced spot are small diamonds that I bought with a gift certificate my
coworkers gave me when I graduated from Franklin University. I actually thought
I had lost them years ago, but I found them in an old jewelry box.
So I am pretty fond of these
earrings, too.
And then I went to a jewelry
store last week and shared my story with the saleswoman. She “got” it – and showed
me some small stones that were perfect!
I brought Vince in with me the
other day and we purchased them.
So I’ll cherish these earrings,
too.
I had to do some research on
where a person gets their ears pierced nowadays. After all, I no longer have a
pediatrician. And I’m sure the place where I got my ears double-pierced on campus
is no longer there.
And I discovered that there is
actually an Association of Professional Piercers. Who knew? And tattoo artists have
to be well-versed in piercing as they pierce way more body parts than mere earlobes.
So I walked into a tattoo parlor
in uptown Westerville to ask them a few questions.
And I walked out with triple-pierced
ears!
The guy who did the deed had a
ponytail to his waist. He had gauged ears and several piercings in his nose.
And, of course, he had lots of tattoos.
But he was nice and he was thorough.
He answered all my questions. And he measured the area and showed me where the
piercing would be so I could approve before he went to work on me.
Then he donned sterile gloves and
opened one-time only equipment. So I was reassured that, while I’m being kind
of a crazy old lady, at least I’m being cautious. And hygienic.
I can’t say the procedure was completely
pain-free. It took only a minute or two. And I love how they look.
When I visited my mom
afterwards, she told me she thought my triple-pierced ears looked “cute.”
So that made me smile.
Besides, getting my mom’s
approval wasn't all that difficult. After all, this is the woman who, when she was well into her 80s, decided
she was going to start wearing ankle bracelets.
And she did – up until she moved
into the memory care unit and it got to be too difficult to take the ankle
bracelets off and put them on every day.
So now I’m sporting three
earrings in each ear. When Vince saw me, he just rolled his eyes and shook his head.
And called me his crazy old lady.
Oh well. I guess I asked for it.
