Pages

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

saving face

"Ah cafee mahfeth", he said to me.

That's frozen 5th-grader-speak for:  I can't feel my face. 

Yes, it's still cold here.  Those words were spoken to me yesterday after I watched this particular kid ride his scooter to where I was.  It was an interesting thing to watch as I first saw him at the top of the path, and it's a gentle downhill slope of about 150 yards to where I was.  His face transformed from slightly pink to bold magenta in that one short scooter ride.  Quite beautiful actually.

I myself have lost my face a few times.  It starts rather painfully with the tip of the nose then quickly and uncomfortably spreads to involve the cheeks.  If the ears are exposed, they are long gone by that point.  Eventually, it all pleasurably returns, and I've gained appreciation for my face.

A couple of weeks ago, when I was visiting my parents, I ran into a high school friend of mine while out power shopping with Mom.  "Nan" was a grade behind me, but we had played basketball together and occassionally hung out with each of our boyfriends in tow.  It's safe to say that she and I were pretty good friends.  And yet...

I don't recognize her at all.

True, it's been nearly 30 *COUGH* years since those high school days, but even so,  with others I've reconnected with since then, I can see vestiges of their previous appearances.

Luckily, Nan and I are f#cebook friends so I recognized her as the high school friend I no longer recognize.   I suspect that she's had "some work done", and I have no idea why.  I can't tell specifically what's been changed - nose? eyes?... but her face just isn't her face.

As we talked, she was the same Nan I remember - generally happy, friendly, and easygoing.  She certainly seemed the same from the inside.  If she cosmetically altered her face, that's certainly her own business.  Perhaps she had some unfortunate accident that required reconstruction?  I think I can rule out witness protection program given that she shops in the town where she grew up and she's on f#cebook, maiden name and all. 

"God has given you one face, and you make yourself another"
-William Shakespeare

I agree with Mr. Shakespeare on that.  What face are you wearing today? 
.

2 comments:

terri said...

I never understood why people want to have plastic surgery. Unless something really hideous is going on, why would you want to change the appearance of the person who has been your "self" from day one? I always thought it would feel strange, and like something has been lost.

Anita said...

Speaking of faces, I like the new face of your blog.

I also like how you started with frozen faces from the weather and segued to a different kind of frozen face. :)