Member-only story
Do I Show Signs of Becoming a Scarf Lady?
Aging gracefully means accepting — and not trying to hide — my scars
One of the many characters you’ll come across in modern society is the Scarf Lady: a woman above a certain age that always seems to camouflage her neck. She wears silky scarves in the summer — Hermes, or other brands that are as tough to pronounce as they are to afford — and chunky knit ones in winter. Some days, she wears turtlenecks. She hides her neck because it makes her uncomfortable when people look at it. She wants to avoid the eyes staring at the wrinkles that accumulate around her neck. It ages her, and she’s bummed out by the way it belies her youth.
Maybe you’re related to a Scarf Lady. Maybe you, yourself, are a Scarf Lady.
I think I’m on the road to Scarf Lady land. Here’s why.
It began around the time I got married, when the wedding photos came back and I saw, in my bridal portraits, that my neck was thicker than I realized.
Years before the wedding, I purchased a necklace from a jewelry maker on Etsy and I wore it every day. This necklace was my favorite for its simplicity. It was a simple silver chain with three square-shaped bronze beads strung on the center. I played with the beads as a nervous habit and when I was deep in thought, sliding…
