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Sunday, February 10, 2008

#370 Red-haired ladies - Another Jane Tale


Jane’s hair has always been naturally red. It isn’t easy to see that now. After 90+ years it has thinned and grayed. She is relatively short of stature. Part of her ancestral heritage is Irish, and that may explain the hair color. As she was growing up, she learned that the “ladies of the evening” would color their hair red. Consequently, Jane was shunned by lots of folks. Her own mother was reluctant to be seen in public with her and the boys were not allowed to take her to the movies, even on a Saturday afternoon.

Because of this and the family in which she was raised, she became a person to be reckoned with. At that time the phrase “my way or the highway,” had yet to be coined. However, that is part and parcel of her view of the world. She adopted the concept that the best defense is a good offense and has lived by that rule ever since. She has been known to brag about it.

It is rather easy to see why she developed her defensiveness. It came about because of her need to overcome the adversity of not being wanted. Thinking about her upbringing it is easy to see how she came to adapt this pattern of behavior. During her early years the only person in the family who truly loved her was her father. Unfortunately, he was on the road a lot due to his work. When he was home he would do what he could to provide a modicum of protection for her.

He died of TB when she was a teenager. That was quite a blow to her. Fortunately, she had developed a pattern of behavior that allowed her to function reasonably well in a hostile world.

#370

3 comments:

Karen said...

That's sad for a teenage girl to lose her father so young. Same thing happened to my mother. Her father got hit by a car and died when she was just 16. She would always say he was a wonderful person.

So, I have to ask... do you have red hair? :o)

Karen said...

er, maybe I should have asked... do you have, or ever have had, red hair? {grin}

Margaret said...

Hi Jack thanks for you visit and the information re "The Paradox of life."
I have amended the post accordingly I guess I might have to stick to humour in future.
Cheers Margaret