Tuesday, January 27, 2009

the unrecognizable truth..

in preparation for my 10 year high school reunion there was much anxiety about my appearance. when i tried explaining this anxious ridden state to others around me, they would laugh and tell me i had nothing to worry about. they didn't understand until they themselves witnessed what happens more often than not to me when i have the chance meeting of folks from my past. the honest truth is - most don't recognize me.





this is awfully perplexing to me. i feel the same, same hair color (for the most part), same eyes, not so much the same body, i was a little heavier in high school - but for the most part, i feel the same. close friends have been with me as i have been in this situation and then given me credit and told me they believed me.





recently i got my hair fussed up, i changed one simple detail. i got a very thick bang, very thick. not a wispy line, but a remember the 80's bang. now folks, i've tried taking self portraits to demonstrate my point but i'm too proud. there, i said it. i can't do it. self portrait shots are far too revealing. why, in one there was a random shoe and boot in the background. in another i feared a random plastic surgeon would bang my door down immediately asking to perform a rhinoplasty. i would then have to explain that when i took that self portrait i tilted my head ever so slightly, enlarging something that i am fine with - my rhino that is. after all, tilting worked for deb and uncle rico.



now, where was i? oh, right, the part about the 80's. somehow in my ever searching mind, i thought a thick bang would do well for me, compliment me or something. plus, it seems hot right now. so....


who would have guessed this venture into mainstream fashion would make me more unrecognizable than ever?
three people in one day last month.
THREE PEOPLE.
IN ONE DAY.
and one, oh boy. one of them was someone i was engaged to. how awful. hadn't seen the lad in 7 years or so and then when we almost crashed into one another at the local market, my mouth involuntarily belted his name out. no hello or anything, just a shocked blurting. he looked and looked and then said my name, more of a question. then some rambling about how he didn't recognize me at all. it was odd and weird and i just kept strolling on. there wasn't a conversation either one of us wanted to have. what do you say to someone you came 10 days shy of marrying? aye me.


the worst encounters so far.
the people who let me down the most. the ones we have laughed hardest about. the folks who gave me life..... one two separate accounts they both gave a polite greeting with a dumbfounded look on their faces. my dad came back from a week of hunting with mountain man. they walked in the door and i shrieked some hallelujah only to be greeted with a dumbfounded look on this hunters face. it was his polite face, one i have seen my whole dadgum life. and me, his eldest - the recipient of it. horrified. once he realized it was me he apologized and laughed profusely. profusely. laughing at his unrecognizable child.


me madre. i pulled up next to her at the local financial institution and encouraged my children to wave energetically at their grandma. wave children wave, give your grandmother something to be proud of. she finally looked up at us and gave the polite wave, certainly not the grandma wave. finally, realizing her own flesh and blood, she broke into fits of giggles. fits and fits. thoughts of {why are my grandchildren with that woman} crossed her mind - only to be startled by the recognition of her firstborn.


where does this leave me?


going back to long and plain. growing the 80's out and bringing them back to the 09 era. unrecognizable is for a woman confident and strong. i am still in my 20's and can't pull it off. so, wish me luck in my endeavors that leave me dreaming of chia pets......

7 comments:

kate said...

that's pretty wild! especially the parentals! you should claim it's because you're continually getting more gorgeous.

Kristy said...

Ah, come on. Let's see a picture! :)

The Ballard's said...

Fits & fits of giggles coming from me. Who cares if they can not recognize you not many of htem can say they are thinner than they were in school:0. You have much to be confident about...even the bang.

emily ballard said...

So funny. My brother has the same problem. But your own parents? Unreal.

I actually have the opposite problem. I must have a familiar face (or a look alike) because strangers frequently come up to me thinking I'm someone I'm not.

Paige M. said...

Sister, the bangs are cute. They compliment your face and are perfect! I like what a fellow commenter said, it is just because you are continually getting more gorgeous! You gotta believe me, it is true!

Brooke said...

I happen to love the bangs on you. Honestly, I am always trying to figure out how to get mine to look like yours.

Anonymous said...

Two thoughts-

What a gift! Think NED RYERSON. Am I right or am I right or am I RIGHT?

Do you have a vest you could wear?