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 The Red Hat Society: Embracing all the life they’ve got left

   By Karlie Baker
   IV Leader Staff, Nov 9, 2006

    There are a lot of conferences and banquets held at Starved Rock Lodge, my particular place of employment.
    The Red Hat Society has come by more than once, wearing what we thought were ridiculous amounts of costume clothing.
    “What the heck are they doing?” my coworkers and I would ask. Why would you want to celebrate being so old? The Red Hats’ most recent visit struck a different chord than it had before, though. There were 40 of them, and some of the ladies did not don the standard red hat — a few had pink, three or four wore brown. Were they trial members? Was this some sign of shame, or are they on Red Hat probation?
    I began to wonder if the different-colored hats were a hazing ritual ... do old ladies even have hazings? I presented my query to my coworker Dusty. “I don’t know,” he said, scratching his goatee. “I bet they make prospective members recite passages from ‘The Scarlet Letter.’ ”
    Oh, the scandal of it all! I suddenly envisioned the Red Hats as a clique of aged sorority sisters, cackling at the scene of another’s humiliation.
    Yet with careful observation, it is apparent that these women are not capable of such menacing actions. They sat there like any ordinary group of (graying) women, chattering of their experiences, sharing photographs and charming anecdotes.
    They distributed post-meal pieces of candy to each other. And they laughed a genuine laugh that is both jubilant and contagious.
    After a while, they seemed no different from my grandmother and her friends, albeit more festively clothed. According to the Red Hat Society Web site, the Red Hats boast themselves to be grown-up girls who still like to play dress-up and have tea parties.
    At an age where it looks like the extent of excitement is a condo in Florida, they take joy in having gained the wisdom of fifty years.
    Most people, particularly women, cower at old age because it means their youth has been spent. Yet they state their mission is to “gain higher visibility for women in [their] age group and to reshape the way [they] are viewed by today’s culture.”
    The Red Hats band together with an attitude that says, “We’re going to keep on living (and keep on living it up!) until we’re under ground, and we’ll dress outlandishly while doing it!” Which is unassailably cool, and I admire their courage.
    I may still poke fun at their atrocious choice in headwear, but I think those Red Hats are onto something.

 

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