By Shae Hadden
Bio

I was surprised to sit down to dinner at a restaurant last night and
look up to see a table full of women boldly wearing red hats sitting
across from me. Few people wear hats these days, fewer still with any
sense of style. Yet these ladies, members of the Red Hat Society, were obviously comfortable with themselves and sassy enough to carry it off.

Curious
to know more about them than just their trademark red hats and purple
outfits, I went over and chatted with them for a few minutes while
waiting for my dinner to appear. What interested me most was that these
middle-aged women (all apparently confessing to be over 50 by wearing a
red hat) were obviously having fun together, sharing camaraderie and
joy in being somewhat ‘outside of the box’.

Two of the women were identical twin sisters: I was thrilled to see
they still enjoyed the confusion their looks caused with their close
friends in the group, one of whom was even related to them by marriage.
Another was obviously the ‘Queen’, directing the somewhat relaxed,
dis-orderly proceedings of their ‘meeting’ around the dinner table. A
fourth was eager to relate the activities their chapter has engaged in
over the years, and how to join an existing chapter or create one of my
own. All were intelligent, playful, witty and humourous.

Being younger than the requisite 50, if I should become a member I
would, of course, be only a ‘pink hatter’. This distinction based on
age is core to the philosophy of the group: one must not wear the
honoured colours until THE BIRTHDAY has been reached. That particular
day is the society’s placemark, a point from which there is no turning
back…only a launching forward to embrace life as it comes with
frivolity, affection and enthusiasm.

If my mother were alive today, I think she would have been aghast at
how these women dressed…and yet, she probably would have secretly
longed to join just such a group. Their spirit and sense of play are
contagious and a welcome relief from the gloom and doom greyness of
most people’s daily existence. Such a wonderful counterpoint to
mainstream media’s image of later life as being filled with boredom,
resignation and malaise. And a powerful demonstration that the second
half does not necessarily have to be a downhill slide into oblivion.

My metaphorical hat is off to you ladies for stepping out in style,
for creating opportunities to celebrate who you are with each other,
and for showing me that wearing a red hat is something I can look
forward to with joy.