Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Old Girl Gets a Trophy
There is a lot going on in this photo. How heavy the award is in my arms. How glad I am that the award ceremony is over. How surreal it is to stand on a stage and watch a video of yourself being played on a big screen.
I look really old, I say to myself. You are really old, I answer back. Just relax into yourself and stop thinking about it. And don’t drop the trophy.
It is the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Alumni Association Annual Awards. I was given an Impact Award which is for a person who has done a lot of things over the years. I’ve done a lot of things and I really wanted to get the award. So, it made me very happy when the phone call came but made me pretty squeamish in the lead-up to the banquet and awards ceremony.
The sequined jacket became a metaphor for all of this. I bought it six weeks ago and it’s hung in my closet taunting me ever since. It was nothing like anything I’d ever worn. I am not a sequin person. The woman on the right in the picture above is a sequin person. You can tell that she is right at home with sparkle, probably born with it, twinkles in her baby hair.
Not me. I would have to pretend to be somebody else to wear that jacket. Which is pretty much what I did in graduate school. I pretended to be someone who should be in graduate school. The pretending went on for years – eleven total – until I felt right wearing the jacket.
This one didn’t fit quite right. It hung in a wacky kind of way, but it was just the right metaphor. I never thought I could get there but I did.
23 Comments on “Old Girl Gets a Trophy”
Leave a Reply
Recent Comments
 | Ellice on Surrender |
 | Nancy Bauer-King on Surrender |
 | Becky Ross Michael on Prison Town: Part Two |
 | GD on Ah. The Hard-Boiled Truth |
 | Jan Wilberg on Ah. The Hard-Boiled Truth |
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
I think both jacket and trophy look great on you!
Thank you!
Congratulations! Well deserved!
Thank you!
You look great AND congratulations.
Thanks, Marilyn 🙂
Congratulations, Jan. You look beautiful! And so full of sparkle!
Ah, how wonderful. And it is a subtle sequin jacket, Jan. Perfect. I bet it would look good with jeans – spoken by someone who doesn’t have much sparkle in her wardrobe. 🙂
You know what? I was thinking the same thing about jeans. Lordy, more nerve to work up.
Jan, I think you have reached that certain age where you don’t have to give a shit about what other people think. At this moment, as I sit here drinking my coffee and thinking about a sequined jacket with jeans, I cant think of anything more fun to do. Old women are frequently overlooked, no one would overlook you in that outfit. You have earned it, hold your head up and go for it.
Thanks for letting me give myself a little boost this morning in the guise of speaking to you. 🙂 I think I need to look for some sequins.
Congratulations, Jan! So well deserved.
Thank you!
Well done Jan, congratulations! I think, beyond any doubt, that you fit in with that shiny group of people in the photo and so deserve to be there 🙂
Thank you, Deb! You are an amazing positive force. I really appreciate it.
CONGRATS, JAN! You deserve it – glitz and all.
Thank you, my dear ROW comrade. So much.
Congratulations on being recognized for all that you’ve done and for finally coming into your own and feeling beautiful in that sparkly jacket. You’ve certainly earned it
Thank you. And thank you for always ‘getting it.’
I can identify with so much of what you say
Congratulations on your award, well done! 🙂
Thank you!
Wow. Love it. Sequined jacket and all. in my book, you sparkle in all the right places
You’re so special, Eve. Thank you so much.