Tuesday, April 16, 2013

When I am an Old Women I Shall Wear Purple!!

As I was working on these two Flowers for a swap this evening ~


I couldn't help but think about the poem, "Warning!" by Jenny Joseph.

I remember when this poem was so popular back in the late 1990s and when the Red Hat Society was so big - and as I have researched it, still is!! 
Warning!!
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
By Jenny Joseph (1932 - )

Do you remember this poem??  And are you a Red Hat Society member??  :-))

8 comments:

Patty C. said...

Cute!

Vroomans' Quilts said...

LOL - I hope to never wear purple or pink hats or go out in my slippers!

Janet O. said...

I recently saw a bunch of Red Hat Society members in town somewhere--can't recall now where, but they were all wearing purple with red hats. : )

elliek said...

Purple and red can work so well together! Maybe not a look that I will embrace.

Kathy @ Kwilty Pleasures said...

I say...if we are lucky to become an old woman....we can wear whatever we want, not a red-hatter although I could be. Cute post!

Nancy said...

Not a red hatter but think I am old enough to wear and do whatever I want or what my kids will let me get away with.LOL!

Pattilou said...

They had lots of Red Hat ladies in Moab and I loved seeing them. Now that I could go, do you think I could find any where I live? Nope, but I'll keep looking. That's a fun post.

Anonymous said...

this hangs on my bedroom wall...i am now an old woman and love the poem even more than i did when i first heard it...i am not a member of the red had society but have friends who are..we have a business nearby that caters to them---red hats, purple scarves---lots of feathers....