When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

We're all getting old and fat! This book just makes you feel less alone about the ordeal!

I gave this book to my mother on her 75th birthday - she will be eighty soon, and refers to the title everytime she does something out of the ordinary, like gardening in the rain, line-dancing, wearing jeans while watching the sun set in Key West, riding in my convertible with the top down right after she had her hair "done", etc. I just bought two copies for my aunts who are in their eighties, and would never dream of doing what their "baby sister" does. Maybe they'll lighten up and enjoy life while they are still able and healthy. This book encourages women of all ages to enjoy life to the fullest.

This book is a great gift for that woman (or sensitive guy) who is celebrating one of the Big Birthdays - whether 30, 40, 50, 60 or more. Along with the usual boring gifts that joke about being over the hill, this gift is a welcome and much needed aid to the transition that birthdays mark. The well-loved poem encourages the reader to appreciate each moment of life while it is happening.I have received this as a gift, loaned out mine, given copies as gifts. It always seems to be appreciated. Its a nice gift by itself. For someone really special to you - mother, sister, friend, lover - it could be given with a small piece of purple - a scarf, tie, t-shirt, flowers, earrings. Everytime the purple gift is worn, the gift and the poem will be remembered, and the moment will linger....

I loved the poems and stories in this book. They seemed to capture so accurately the way I feel about growing older. Sometimes I feel sad or angry or frightened but then, just like some of the women in the stories, I feel like I am so much freer than when I was younger. I especially love Jenny Joseph's poem. My mother always loved purple. We read this poem at her funeral and everyone laughed and cried at the same time. I keep this book by my bedside and refer to it over and over.